Laying Down the Law
by The Kouga Lucius Connection
Summary: The Wildcats and The Fangs have been ally gangs against the ruthless Tarantulas for years, but what happens when a new girl gets thrown in the mix? How far will two gangs go over a simple territory war? IxK, SxR, KxA, SxM
1. Betrayal

**Hey, I wrote this on a whim because I was bored on a Saturday night. I know, I'm a loser, lol. But my inspiration was a mix between Grease and Fast and the Furious, so if you see any similarities that's why. Lemme know what you guys think!**

**-KOLU Connection**

"God fuckin dammit!"

Kouga Ookami rolled his eyes and exchanged glances with Miroku Houshi, who only shrugged his shoulders. Sesshomaru Taisho seemed not at all disturbed by this outburst and only continued reading the newspaper, pretending as though nothing were amiss. Inuyasha Taisho slammed the metal warehouse sliding door behind himself, letting out another scream of frustration and beginning to decimate a stack of nearby tires with angry fists. His leather "Fangs" jacket caught the warehouse lights, highlighting the gang's jagged red triple claw mark symbol as he lashed out at the walls.

"Stupid cheating bitch!" he hollered madly, punching the wall with such force that it left a dent in the metal.

This only caused Kouga to snort and he glanced over at Miroku, blue eyes twinkling as he said, "I coulda told 'im that."

Miroku muffled a snort of laughter into his hand as he rested his elbow on the beat up couch arm. His own violet eyes displayed his mirth as he nodded hurriedly in Kouga's direction.

Sesshomaru gave a half smile, murmuring under his breath, "Every damn time."

The three shared a secret laugh as they watched Inuyasha continue destroying the warehouse as best he could. Fortunately, they were on the other side of the room and could observe him safely without endangering their lives.

These four teenage boys were the core and life blood of the famed Fangs, territorial owners of Main street to Salter Avenue. Sesshomaru served as the gang's leader, while Kouga took up the role of second command, yet Miroku and Inuyasha had their own responsibilities to worry about. They were in charge of spreading the word to other gang members concerning fights, meetings and whatnot. Mostly, the gang was involved in car boosting and other illigetimate mechanic activity, though they never "stole" persay; The Fangs were above holding up your average Stop and Shop.

As Inuyasha slowed down in his tirade against the innocent warehouse, he began to notice blood dripping down his hands from gashes on his knuckles. Grimacing ruefully, he tried to steady his breathing and shook out his hands stiffly; that's what he got for picking a fight with metal walls and garage equipment.

He walked over towards the others, throwing his jacket onto the couch where Kouga and Miroku sat and grabbing a towel from a container glued to the wall. As he tried to staunch the bleeding on his hands, he addressed the others dully. "Get any calls while I was gone?"

Sesshomaru flipped the page of his newspaper and, without looking up, replied, "Bankotsu needs a tune-up on his Spyder. By tomorrow's race."

Inuyasha just groaned, glaring at his brother's back. "By tomorrow? He runs that thing hard enough that it might take me a few days! God damnit!"

Sesshomaru turned his great white head slightly, amber eyes meeting with Inuyasha's equally mesmerizing ones. "If you can't fix a car with all the equipment in this garage, you don't deserve to be part of the Fangs."

And true enough, the Fang hang-out was quite impressive at that. The warehouse doubled as a sort of living room and garage, complete with car jacks, scores of tools, work tables and car elevators. In the Northwest corner of the place was a group of overstuffed couches, a kitchen type area and a few chairs, where the group was currently sitting. Other gang members stopped by on occassion, in between errands and what not, but for the most part the four boys were by themselves on the weekdays. During the weekends, the gang was together 24/7 trying to piece together parties, shipments, and whatever else they could lay their hands on.

Inuyasha's amber eyes blazed with indignation as he continued wiping at his knuckles, muscular arms stretching the sleeves of his tight fitting black t-shirt. For the most part, the Fangs wore jeans, muscle shirts, and all sorts of leather, mostly of the white, red and black variety. Each hard working member had a black Fangs jacket, for instance, and wore them whenever they went out to represent their gang. Though the police knew the Fangs were up to something illegal, they could never catch them in the act and had to sit idly by, waiting for Sesshomaru to misstep...but he never did and never would; Sesshomaru was just too smooth.

After a moment of silence, Kouga just couldn't help but ask the obvious question. "So...catch Kikyo with her skirt down for someone else?"

Miroku burst out laughing, turning away his head as Inuyasha grew incredibly red in the face. Gritting his teeth angrily, the boy clenched his fists and yelled, "You'll wish you never said that, god damned wolf!"

Kouga, a wolf demon with long black hair and brilliant blue eyes, was the champion motorcylist in the Fangs. He and Sesshomaru had known each other since their childhood and were always at each other's side, thick as thieves and trusting of no one but each other. Kouga was often at odds with Inuyasha, though the two were friends as well, and he enjoyed poking fun at his best friend's little brother. Inuyasha was easily riled, after all.

"Catch me if you can, ass head!" Kouga called, standing up from the couch and hopping teasingly from foot to foot.

Inuyasha lunged in the wolf's direction, reaching out to punch, but found himself hitting nothing but air. Kouga was already several feet away, grinning madly and making faces in Inuyasha's direction. Before Inuyasha could chase after him, Miroku had stood and put a pacifying arm on his shoulder. "Yash, just let it go."

Miroku Houshi was the resident peace maker, host to honest violet eyes and a short brown ponytail. He was famous for his conversation abilities and was always an asset at negotiation meetings. His only downfall lay in his hands; the boy was a helpless pervert. No matter where he went, Miroku couldn't help terrorizing some poor girl and he often ended up with a bright red hand print on his cheek, a reward for a copped feel. He and Inuyasha were best friends, fiercely loyal to one another, and consultants about everything from girls to family.

Seeing the look in his best friend's eyes, Inuyasha gave a heavy sigh and practically fell back against the couch, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Kikyo's been cheating on me," he finally said.

"I know," Miroku replied dryly, letting his thoughts drift to Kikyo Wattanabe, member of the Wildcats, the all-girl half of the Fangs. She wasn't mean or judgemental, like some uppity cheerleaders tended to be, but she had a weakness for sex. Truthfully, Kikyo was a sleeparound and...well, a whore. A heart-breakingly nice whore.

"I really thought she was the one, man," Inuyasha all but moaned, thinking back to Kikyo's smile, her scent, her beautiful skin.

"Did you catch her in the act?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha snorted. "I was ten minutes early to pick her up and I caught her giving some Tarantula punk a blow job."

The others let out hisses of disapproval, wincing at the thought of catching their girlfriend doing that, of all things. Sesshomaru said coldly, "If she would go behind your back with a Tarantula, then she's no girlfriend of yours." He seemed fit to be tied and he turned away from his friends, afraid he'd take out his vicious anger on them. It was an insult to the Fangs that Kikyo would cheat on Inuyasha with a Tarantula and it was absolutely unacceptable; Sesshomaru would put a stop to this once and for all.

The Tarantulas were a rival gang, lead by the masochistic Naraku Onigumo. They were reknowned for illegal activities such as stealing, embezzlement and even murder. While the Fang's preferred to keep their illegitimate business to boosting cars, the Tarantulas had no reservations about shooting down their enemies. Unlike the Fangs, Tarantula members were often given jail time, with little or no chance for perole. The only reason the police couldn't grab Naraku was simple: they could never connect the members with the gang. When asked if they belonged to any sort of gang, the arrested parties would always respond no and could never be persuaded to confess. Along with drug trafficking and gang banging, the Tarantulas proved to be far more violent and hostile than the Fangs.

Naraku and Sesshomaru were enemies from way back and couldn't stand the other under any sort of conditions. Territory meetings and negotiation sessions were always stiff and angry when the Fangs and Tarantulas were involved, though the other gangs tried to keep them under control.

"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha replied sulkily, obviously still put out over Kikyo's unfaithfulness.

Sesshomaru excused himself to make a phone call, leaving the other boys to their own devices for a while. Kouga and Miroku exchanged glances for the umpteenth time, silently wondering who their leader was calling. They knew it had to do with the recent events surrounding Kikyo, but they weren't sure what would be done. Sesshomaru returned in due time, pocketing his cell phone and returning to his newspaper. Though he appeared to be reading it, his eyes never moved; he had too much to think about.

After a moment, Sesshomaru said, "The girls are coming over in ten minutes."

Miroku smiled a frighteningly innocent smile while Kouga sighed, smoothing the top of his hair in a nervous way. Inuyasha just snorted and laid out across the couch, deciding to nap away his troubles; the last thing he needed was to watch his brother being mushy with Rin, his long standing girlfriend. That would just rub the fact that he was currently single and looking for love.

Rin Takeyama pursed her lips in frustration and shifted her wait from hip to hip; her cousin's plane was late. Rin was quite beautiful, small but striking with her long black hair and big brown eyes. She wore a pair of black leather pants and a pink tank top, over which was her white leather "Wildcats" jacket. For years now, the Wildcats and Fangs had been in allegiance, an all girl and all boy gang allied for protection and insurance against other groups. Rin adjusted her large sunglasses as a voice came out across the airport intercom, announcing the landing of Flight 19.

Passengers began to pour out from the air bridge opening, embracing family members and shaking hands with business associates. Finally, a girl of about 17 came out from the tunnel, glancing around the airport with wide brown eyes. She had pale, but beautiful skin, framed by silky brown locks and a pair of pouty pink lips. She was tall and well built, holding herself with the confidence of someone unaffected by challenge. She was Kagome Higurashi, Rin's favorite cousin.

Rin let out a squeal and rushed forward, gathering a surprised Kagome in a hug. Kagome let out a similar sound and they jumped around excitedly for a moment before Rin stepped back to get a look at her cousin.

"Wow, you grew boobs Kags!" the small girl exclaimed.

Kagome blushed crimson, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Hehe, yeah, whadya know."

The two girls caught up with each other as they walked across the terminal, picking up Kagome's baggage from the carousel.

As Kagome picked up her fourth back from the conveyor belt, Rin asked breathlessly, "How many bags did you bring!"

Her cousin only rolled her eyes plantively, replying, "Six. I _will_ be staying with you for a year and a half, Rin."

And it was true. Kagome's parents didn't approve of the education Kagome was receiving in her home town of Kyoto. After speaking with Rin's mother and hearing of the outstanding academic standards in Tokyo, the Higurashis decided that it was best to send Kagome to live with her cousin for her senior year. Perhaps after receiving a good education in Tokyo and taking her standardized tests there, she could get into a better college. Of course, Kagome's parents knew nothing of what their daughter would encounter in her new town.

The two girls struggled their way out to Rin's silver Mercedes convertible, loading everything in the trunk and backseat. They pulled out onto the highway before Rin said lightly, "Hope you don't mind, but we've got somewhere to go on our way home."

"Oh? Where?" Kagome asked, never removing her eyes from the passing landscape; she was fascinated by the bustling Tokyo fervor.

Smiling almost nervously, Rin replied, "Um...before I tell you where we're going, I'm going to have to tell you a few things about...well, life here."

Kagome furrowed her brow before turning back to face her cousin. "Uh...okay?"

"See," Rin began almost unsurely, "In our part of town, there's a lot of gang activity. Looting, racing, that sort of thing. Nothing too dangerous," Rin lied hurriedly, after seeing Kagome's horrified face, "but it's there. And it's not like I do anything...illegal necessarily. But...I'm part of a gang called the Wildcats."

Kagome's eyebrows disappeared into her hair as she exclaimed fiercely, "Part of a gang? Rin, I'm surprised at you! What would make you do such a thing? Do you know what kind of trouble that could get you in? You could get arrested, it could be put on your permanent record an-"

"Kagome, take a god damn chill pill!" Rin broke in shrilly. Kagome shut her mouth abruptly, silenced by her cousin's language, but Rin continued unfettered. "It isn't like I kill people or steal shit or something. I'm just part of a group of girls who hang out with a group of guys who protect us from other gangs. We hang out together and protect each other. Think of it as a family of really close friends. When there's really _dangerous_ gangs running around, you do what you gotta do to survive. You feel me?"

After a moment, Kagome nodded slowly, saying, "I guess. You don't do anything illegal? Promise?"

Laughing a little at her cousin's hesitance, Rin replied, "Besides smoke a cigarette every now and then? No, I'm pretty good as far as girls at Sarisoga go. But I had to let you know that stuff before I told you where we were going. We're gonna stop by Fang headquarters to talk with them about a little sumpin' sumpin."

"Fang headquarters? What?" Kagome asked confusedly.

Rin sighed and flipped on her blinker, exiting the highway towards the warehouse district. "That's another thing I gotta tell ya. You know how I've mentioned my boyfriend Sesshomaru a few times?" When Kagomed nodded slowly, Rin continued. "See, he's the leader of the guy gang we, the Wildcats, are allied with. They're called the Fangs and...well, they protect us." Rin decided it was best just to leave it at that.

"This is a lot to take in, Rin," Kagome sort of laughed. "But I gotta admit, my interest is peaked. I've always wondered what gang life would be like, you know? Ever since I saw that musical Grease."

Rin gave a sigh, shaking her head. "I can tell ya right now, girlie, Grease ain't got nothin' on us. The only thing we got in common are the jackets."

As her cousin talked, Kagome began to notice her increasingly bad grammar. It seemed that, as Rin became more comfortable with her cousin after three years apart, she allowed her true self to shine through the bouncing facade. Rin was obviously harder and stronger since the last time they'd met.

The girls drove through rows and rows of warehouses before Rin turned left and came to stop in front of a particularly ominous silver building. She killed the engine and stepped out of the car, watching as Kagome did the same and stretched her long limbs in the hot summer sun.

Rin peered at her cousin over her sunglasses, asking after a moment, "You got anything else to change into?"

Kagome replied confusedly, "No, not unless I open my luggage, why?"

Turning away from her cousin's ensemble of capris, a white singlet and a pair of prissy sequined flip flops, Rin replied dryly, "Never mind. Let's just go."

Right before the two girls reached the door, an old Mustang came pulling up in front of the building, parking on the gravel road. Two girls stepped out of the vehicle, waving as Rin hailed them with a wave of her own. The driver was tall and slender, long brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail. She wore the white Wildcats jacket over a black singlet with a pair of tailored white leather pants, looking well put together and formidable as she peered at the warehouse through her sunglasses. The other girl had long red hair, falling in loose curls down her back and laying over the Wildcat symbol on her jacket. She wore a black leather skirt and plain red tank top, green eyes sparkling as she observed the Fang hangout; she couldn't wait to get inside.

As the girls approached, Rin said casually to Kagome, "That's Sango Tajiya and Ayame Saitou. Ayame's my second in command."

Jerking her head in Rin's direction, Kagome asked through gritted teeth, "Second in command? Meaning your the _leader_!"

Rin blushed a little at her faux pah, forgetting that she hadn't shared this detail with her cousin. Quickly turning her attention to her nails, Rin laughed nervously, "Hehe, how about that?"

Sango and Ayame stopped in front of Rin and Kagome, smiling at their leader before turning their attention to her cousin. "Who's this?" Sango asked shortly, looking the girl up and down.

While Kagome blushed under Sango's scrutiny, Rin replied, "My cousin Kagome Higurashi, she'll be staying with me for senior year."

Ayame introduced herself politely, shaking hands with Kagome and living the girl massagin her palm. After a while, Kagome lowered her eyebrows and barked at Sango, "Hey, do you mind? Stop checking me out!"

Rin was surprised my her cousin's ferocity, since she'd appeared to be innocent, sweet and naive. Sango, who had paused in her obervation, just smiled faintly. "I like her attitude." After a brief moment, however, Sango furrowed her brow and asked, "Where's Kikyo?"

At this name, Rin's face darkened drastically and she murmured, "She won't be attending this meeting. C'mon, we're late as it is."

Rin began walking purposefully towards the building, leaving Sango and Ayame to exchange confused glances. Kagome just stood awkwardly by, hurrying after the others when they began to follow Rin. Without bothering to knock, Rin grabbed the door handle and yanked viciously to the left, rolling the door open with a loud, echoing boom. Kagome blinked as the distinctive smell of auto grease entered her nostrils and she tentatively entered the warehouse, observing all the cars, mechanic equipment, and general work chaos. The other girls made their way through the many car elevators and walked towards the Northwest corner, where several couches and tables were located. After seeing three boys, Kagome immediately put on her tough girl face; she was never one to give men the upper hand, a women's rights activist if you will.

Sesshomaru stood upon seeing his beautiful Rin strutting towards him. "Hey baby," he said, kissing her briefly on the lips. He smiled lovingly down at her and she returned his smile, staring deep into his amber eyes. Sesshomaru wrapped his arms loosely around her waist before adopting a business like tone. "Did you tell them yet?"

Seeing her boyfriend's gaze drift to Ayame and Sango, Rin replied, "No, didn't have time. I brought someone you should meet."

Rin broke away from Sesshomaru and beckoned to Kagome, who walked confidently forward; she wouldn't let her nervousness show in front of boys. "This is my cousin Kagome, she'll be staying with me for senior year. I told her about our little alliance and she's cool with it. Say hello, Kags."

"Hello," Kagome said strongly, meeting eyes briefly with each boy.

Kouga and Miroku, who had been watching this interraction from the kitchen table, exchanged glances; this girl was hot and feisty, just the way they liked them. They wouldn't go after her of course, seeing as though both boys had eyes for only two girls. These girls happened to be standing behind Kagome, arms crossed and knees popped; when in the face of the Fangs, the Wildcats were sure to display their attitude.

"Now that introductions are over with, down to business," Rin announced. After a moment, she furrowed her brow and asked curiously, "Where's Yash?"

"Right here," came a voice from the couch.

Inuyasha stood up, stretching his lithe limbs and rolling his shoulders, observing Kagome all the while. She was surprised to see a fourth boy and was obviously caught off guard by his good looks, which were quite striking to say the least. Tan from days in the sun, strong from heavy lifting and still soft in the face from natural beauty, Inuyasha was enough to make any girl drool. Yet Kagome refused to turn into goo over a pair of pretty amber eyes. She said nothing, only watching Inuyasha in return.

"So nice of you to wake up and say hello, "Ayame said sarcastically, placing her sunglasses atop her head and observing Inuyasha with critical green eyes.

"No problem," came Inuyasha's insolent reply as he scratched himself and shuffled towards the refrigerator to grab a beer.

Rin rolled her eyes and reitterated, "Right, business." She turned to Sesshomaru and asked sternly, "Do you swear by what you told me on the phone?"

"Every last word," Sesshomaru replied disappointedly, shaking his head slowly and trying to contain his righteous fury; the idea that anyone would cheat on his brother with a Tarantula angered him to the point of homicide.

"Alright," Rin sighed sadly, turning to her fellow Wildcats and saying, "Kikyo cheated on Inuyasha with a Tarantula. You know what we've gotta do."

Ayame and Sango gasped, exchanging glances before beginning to protest. Rin held up her hand and said fiercely, "We live by the rules and so should she. She broke them and now she has to pay the price. Are you gonna argue with that?"

Stepping up to address her best friend, Ayame said boldly, "Kikyo's like a sister to us. You can't kick her out just like that!"

"Yeah!" Sango agreed, stepping forward to stand with Ayame.

The air in the warehouse was thick and uncomfortable as Rin stared her gang members down. Finally she said in barely a whisper, "She's a betrayer. Not only did she betray a Fang, she betrayed him for a Tarantula. Next, she could betray you Ayame, and then you Sango!" She pointed her finger at each girl in turn.

While Ayame sighed in defeat, shaking her head and agreeing with her leader, Sango argued back, "She's my best friend, she can't betray me!"

"She can and will!" Rin yelled hotly.

The Fangs just watched, knowing this was a power struggle between Rin and her gang members; they were not to interfere. Kagome felt very awkward and out of place as the girls argued, seeing as though she were part of neither group in this instance and didn't know Kikyo.

Finally, Sango gave a sigh and glanced up at Rin, brown eyes clashing with brown. "Alright. She's out."

Rin nodded curtly, inwardly proud of Sango for siding with the Wildcats. "Good. I'll tell her tonight."

"You'll be at the race tomorrow, am I right?" Sesshomaru asked Rin, snaking his arms around her waist once more.

Nodding, happy to finally be done with the dramatic business, Rin smiled and leaned in for a rather passionate kiss with her boyfriend. The others turned away, wanting to give the two privacy while simultaneously grossed out by the rather provocative PDA.

Inuyasha took a swig of his beer and gestured to Kagome. "Kagome, right?"

Cocking an eyebrow, Kagome replied saucily, "Last time I checked."

"Don't have to get bitchy with me," Inuyasha said in an irritated voice, downing the last of his beer.

Kagome crossed her arms haughtily. "I wasn't getting bitchy. Maybe your just sensetive."

"Oh, you hit me where it hurts princess," Inuyasha moaned, placing a hand of his wounded heart with a mocking air.

"Princess!" Kagome asked angrily, obviously not a fan of Inuyasha's pet name.

Inuyasha blinked. "What, you like somethin' else? Darling? Sweetcheeks? Babycakes?"

"ARGH! None of the above, you bastard!" Kagome all but yelled, fists clenched at her sides.

By this time, Ayame and Sango had wandered over to the couch which Inuyasha had recently vacated and were talking in hushed tones about the Kikyo incident. Kouga turned discreetly to Miroku and said, "This is my chance. I'm gonna go ask Ayame out. I swear she'll say yes."

Miroku laughed a little. "When pigs fly, man, when pigs fly."

Growling, Kouga punched Miroku in the shoulder before standing to his feet, walking from the kitchen towards the couch. He stood in front of the girls for a moment before Sango glanced up and noticed he was there. She poked Ayame and jerked her head in Kouga's direction, leaving Ayame to regard Kouga with a wide smile. "Hey, Ko."

Smiling in return, Kouga placed a hand lazily in his pocket. "Hey, Aya. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Exchanging a quick but hopeful glance with Sango, Ayame replied, "Sure."

The two stood up and walked over to the side, leaving Sango alone on the couch to think about her own problems. Now that Kikyo was being kicked out of the Wildcats, Kikyo would most likely reject her best friend; that was just the type of girl she was. Kikyo was loyal to no one and easily offended, no matter how nice she was. Even nice people couldn't take betrayal. Before Sango could get too deep in her thoughts, Miroku sat down beside her.

"So, Sango, how are you today?" he asked suavely.

Slightly startled at his sudden appearance, Sango gave an edgy smile and started scooting away, ever so slightly. "Just great, keep your hands aw-a-aY! PERVERT!"

Before she could even finish giving her warning, Miroku's hand found it's way to Sango's rearend and he gave it a good hard squeeze. Sango raised her hand and slapped the boy firmly across the cheek, burning a brilliant crimson before standing angrily to her feet and stalking away. Miroku sighed, staring up at the warehouse ceiling. If only he could make the right move with Sango, just once.

Over with Ayame and Kouga, Kouga was trying his best to get the question out of his mouth. "What I wanted to ask was...I wanted to ask..."

"Yes?" Ayame urged, green eyes earnest and hopeful; she'd had her eye on Kouga for a long time now and wanted nothing more to go out with him. If only he could ever get the courage to pop the question!

Finally, Kouga swallowed the lump in his throat and composed himself. Facing Ayame squarely, he asked, "I wanted to know if you'd like to go out with me this Friday."

Eyes twinkling with delight, Ayame replied, "Sure! I'd love to, Kouga!"

"Great! I mean...that's cool," Kouga replied, running a hand over the top of his head while grinning madly.

Rin and Sesshomaru had finally broken apart from their loving kiss to observe the warehouse in varitable chaos. Sango was yelling at Miroku from across the warehouse, refusing to even go near him due to his lechery, while Kouga and Ayame laughed uproariously about Miroku's lame excuses in the meanwhile. Kagome and Inuyasha were screaming at each other, arguing about God knows what, and Rin just gave a tired sigh.

Burying her head in Sesshomaru's chest, she muttered, "God, I hate being a leader."

Sesshomaru chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "You better get the girls out of her before Inuyasha and Miroku end up unics."

Rin laughed a little, replying, "Yeah, guess your right." Breaking away from her boyfriend, the small girl yelled commandingly, "Sango, Ayame, Kagome! Time to go!"

All action in the warhouse stopped for a moment before Sango exited the warehouse quickly, followed by Kagome, who stormed away form Inuyasha looking furious. Ayame bid Kouga a happy goodbye before running after her friends, leaving Rin standing dazedly next to Sesshomaru. Rolling her eyes, she smiled at her boyfriend and said, "See you tomorrow."

He kissed her goodbye before saying, "Tomorrow."

With that, Rin hurried after her fellow Wildcats, leaving the boys to bask in the girls' lasting presence. Sighing bitterly, Miroku said rather quietly to himself, "I swear my hands have minds of their own."

Inuyasha snorted. "Maybe your hands can ring that damn girl's neck. What was her name? Kagome? God! What a bitch!"

"You two just don't have the luck with women," Kouga said cockily, rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles.

With a grin, Sesshomaru asked, "Did you finally ask Ayame out?"

"Yup, and she said yes. This friday," Kouga answered proudly, smiling at his best friend.

"It's about damn time, I thought you'd never put on your big boy pull ups n' ask her," Inuyasha taunted, glad the attention was away from his recent fight with Kagome. She may have been a bitch, but she was a beautiful bitch.

"Shut up, dog breath, it's not my fault Kikyo fucked some other guy!" Kouga retorted, angered by the chip shot at his pride.

"Why you-" Inuyasha began lowly, clenching a threatening fist.

Before anything could arise, Sesshomaru stepped between his friend and brother. "That's enough out of you two, I have enough to worry about without my gang turning against each other."

"Feh," came Inuyasha's haughty reply. "I'm going for a ride."

"Inuyasha."

Sesshomaru reached out and caught Inuyasha by the shoulder, forcing his brother to face him. "Don't worry about Kikyo, she'll get hers. She wasn't worth it."

Irritated that his brother could always tell what he was thinking, Inuyasha shrugged Sesshomaru's hand bitterly away. "Whatever."

As Inuyasha stalked towards the door, Miroku sighed and said, "She really got em good, man. I think she hurt 'im."

Kouga was silent for a minute before reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a set of keys. "Hey, Yash!"

The white haired boy turned on his heels, asking hotly, "What!"

Without another word, Kouga threw the keys in Inuyasha's direction, watching as the boy caught them and examined them. Glancing up, Inuyasha met eyes with Kouga and nodded, as though thanking him for giving him a way out of this misery. Kouga understood the need to get out and ride around the town to clear your head; he figured his motorcycle would do Inuyasha some good.

With that, Inuyasha left through the door and the others returned to their business, preparing for the next day's affairs. Life in the Fangs was never boring for a second.

**That's the first chapter. Do you guys think I should continue or what? Reviews are appreciated!**

**KOLU Connection**


	2. Help

**Well, here's the second installment in my story. I know the gang thing has been done before, but I'm doing my best to make the plot line my own. I've also tried to make Kikyo less of a slut bitch and more of...well, you'll see.**

**DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha and all the characters here in cited are the creation and credited idea of Rumiko Takahashi. Basically, anything you recognize, I don't own. **

The two girls pulled up to the gate of the Takeyama mansion, rolling down the rock pathway to the house. It was Victorian style, very beautiful, but quite the trouble to upkeep. There was a house staff of 14 maids and servants, along with 2 cooks and three gardeners.

As Rin pulled around to the front of the house, where two maids were waiting to help Kagome with her things, the small girl said, "Kags, sorry to dump you like this, but I have some business to take care of. Saki and Ai will show you to your room and stuff. Daddy apologizes for not being in town, but he had business elsewhere. He ought to be home in a few days."

Kagome noticed that Rin's smile faltered when she said this, but in a moment, it was back. "So later, right?" Rin asked cheerfully.'

"Yeah, later," Kagome responded easily, grabbing two suitcases in her hands before following the maids to the door. Rin sped off towards the gate, leaving Kagome alone with the gigantic mansion and all the servants.

Inside was your typical Richie Rich mansion scenario, marble floors, chandeliers, expensive paintings, polished wood banisters. Kagome and the two girls struggled up the massive stair case, passing several vases on pedestals on their way, and they finally collapsed in front of the third door on the second floor. Saki smiled and opened the room, ushering Kagome inside as Ai carried in all the luggage.

"If you need anything, just call us Ms. Kagome," Saki said in a sweet voice. "We'll leave you now."

The two maids disappeared out the door, closing it behind them and leaving a stunned Kagome in their wake. Her room was like a dream come true, a huge bed with taffeta canopy hanging over the posts. There was a dresser and a walk in closet, with a bathroom leading off to the side. From the door, Kagome could vaguely make out a stand alone bathtub in the bathroom, flanked on either side by cupid statues. Letting out a great sigh, Kagome wondered if life could get any better than this.

Rin drove for a few minutes until she was in the thick, dark streets of town, surrounded on all side by teenagers in leather and obnoxious young adults, beer bottles in hand. Upon seeing a familiar neon pink sign, Rin pulled over and parkede her Mercedes, putting on the necessary secuirty locks before stepping out with the air of an authority figure.

Ignoring the leering calls of a few wayward drunks, Rin ducked inside a door underneath the pink sign. The sign read: "Rock's Bar."

Inside, a thick haze of cigarette smoke filled Rin's nostrils and she felt oddly at ease. She'd smoked for some time, not avidly but enough to soothe her nerves, and just the scent of a cigarette could calm her down. Shady characters dwelled in the corners, nursing beers and leering at passing women, yet Rin didn't fear them. As leader of the Wildcats, she couldn't ear them.

The girl walked purposefully towards the bar, slapping the palm of her hand on the counter. When the old bar keep glanced up, staring at Rin through pin prick eyes enveloped by thick face flesh, she asked, "Kikyo here?"

"In the back," the man replied, returning to washing out a dismal looking glass.

Rin hopped over the bar and strutted into the dark back corridor, passing a sketchy bathroom and a few drunk men on her way. When she finally came to the back, the found several kegs of alcohol and three waitresses, sitting on the kegs with their skirts hiked up drinking Coronas. The most striking of the three girls threw her head back with laughter at something one of the blondes said, eyes sparkling and hair rippling like molten steel. Rin sighed; it was hard to tell Kikyo no and this certainly wouldn't be easy.

Kikyo would fascinate an artist, for the line of her body was like a glassy river, perfectly smooth, aligned and curvacious. Her skin was supple, pale, flawlessly smooth like a porcelain doll, and her eyes held the kindness and adventurous ardor of someone untainted by hardship. This wasn't to say Kikyo didn't endure any, for her family wasn't well off and her father couldn't pull his own weight to save his life, but she never complained. Her only downfall lay in her weakness for sex.

Rin called out, "Kikyo," in a commanding voice, catching the girl's attention instantly.

"Hey Rin," Kikyo replied happily, still laughing a little at the waitress's comment. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you." When none of the girls move, Rin clarified sternly, "Alone."

There was a brief moment of motionless silent before the two other waitresses slid slowly of the kegs and left the room, staring at Rin curiously on their way out. They knew, by her commanding air and her jacket, that this was Rin Takeyama, leader of the Wildcats. She must be speaking with Kikyo on urgent Wildcat's business, since she seemed so severe. If only they knew.

Trying to ignore Kikyo's beauty, which made her likeable even to women, Rin hopped up on an adjacent keg and leaned back, bracing herself with her hands. "You might know why I'm here," she said smoothly, noncomitally, hoping the other girl _did _know.

Slightly frightened at Rin's severity, Kikyo managed to barely shake her head; she couldn't think of anything right then. The beautiful girl shifted her weight, upsetting the ruffled red skirt and corset top of her uniform; The Rock was by no means an honest bar and Rin knew it, but she would never object to Kikyo's private affairs. It was Kikyo's business what she did with her life after all...until she upset the delicate balance between the Fangs and Wildcats.

"Well," Rin began slowly, "You cheated on Inuyasha with a Tarantula and you should know what that means without me telling you."

Kikyo blinked, trying to remember what she'd been told upon initiation to the Wildcats. What was it that they'd said? Something about betrayal leading to dismissal...but this was by no means betrayal. Sex was sex after all, Kikyo thought, beautiful, incredible sex. At just the thought of her weakness, the impassioned, sweaty sensation of two bodies colliding in a marvelous explosion of color and animalistic cries, Kikyo shuddered. The thought made her want to have sex again right then.

Seeing that Kikyo was becoming unfocused, Rin spoke again. "Kikyo, are you listening to me?"

The pretty girl snapped out of her reverie, nodding slowly. She didn't even look the slightest bit ashamed, Rin noted. Disgraceful. And yet Rin still couldn't feel any hatred for this girl. Her friend, Kikyo.

When Rin turned to meet eyes with Kikyo, her chocolate eyes dancing with Kikyo's sandy brown ones, Kikyo knew something was amiss. Just the way Rin held herself, not hunched, not straight, but almost uneasily curved, Kikyo knew she was about to say something terrible. Something she didn't want to say.

"Kikyo. You're out," Rin all but whispered.

In that moment of Kikyo Wattanabe's life, she suddenly felt the world stop turning, time stop spinning, her heart stop beating. No. They couldn't possibly take anything else away from her. Besides sex, the Wildcats were all Kikyo had. The only protection she would ever be offered. There was no way in hell that they were kicking her out. Besides that, she'd been close friends with all three core girls since junior high. They couldn't just forget about something so sacred over a silly thing like sex? Beautiful, beautiful sex...

"No..." Kikyo choked out, suddenly understanding in one ultimate moment what this meant. "No...y-you can't...Rin, please, don't...I..."

There were no words in the whole of any language to describe the loss Kikyo felt at that moment, but Rin knew she had to be strong. She couldn't crack over something like emotion and Kikyo's incoherent babblings certainly wouldn't affect her. Besides, it was Kikyo's own fault for not controlling herself. If only Kikyo could control herself, this wouldn't have been an issue. But she couldn't and it was.

"Kikyo, you brought it on yourself," Rin said, trying to be cold but failing; Rin just wasn't a cold person, no matter how hard she had to be sometimes. She couldn't watch an old friend cry without feeling the slightest bit of sadness.

"I...I...Rin, you don't understand, I...I can't help it..." Kikyo stuttered out, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. They marred her perfection, that insatiable beauty which captured so many hearts, yet broke so many souls. "Rin, you d-don't understand...I...I need it..."

Kikyo reached out, weakly clutching the front of Rin's shirt, eyes wide and face haunted. "I _need _it," she repeated, looking positively enamored by the thought of making love to someone, anyone. Be they beautiful or hideous, consentual or forced, dead of alive. She needed it.

Rin quietly examined her friend's face, the underniable desire, the lust, the hollowness of her cheeks and sunkeness of her eyes. Kikyo looked little like a porcelain doll any more; now, she was nothing but a monster. To Rin, she was a friend in need. Not of sex, but help. Kikyo kept saying she needed it, she needed it. Whether "it" was sex or the companionship of the Wildcats, RIn couldn't be sure. Perhaps Kikyo was even talking about help. But Kikyo needed something, that was sure.

"You're sick, Kikyo," Rin said quietly, eyebrows furrowing as she came to this realization.

Without another word, Kikyo broke down into hysterical sobs, collapsing into Rin's lap as the Wildcat's leader held her tightly, trying to comfort her inconsolable friend. Rin realized that, no matter what happened, Kikyo was going to need help and no one but the Wildcats and Fangs could get it for her. Kikyo's mother was dead, a cancer victim at the young age of 31, and Kikyo's father was helpless without his beautiful wife. He was a lazy drunk, one who probably caused more trouble than he helped. The gang knew that Kikyo was hard pressed for money, but they didn't dare interfere; everyone in the gang had pride, Kikyo included. Rin was surprised her friend showed this much emotion about a revealing subject even know, despite illness and sadness.

Finally, Kikyo quieted down a little, sniffling quietly as Rin shushed her and stroked her hair. The beautiful girl, eaten up by depression and nymphomania, gave a tired, shuddering sigh and whispered hoarsely, "I need to go away for a while. I need to g-get help, Rin. Please...p-ple..."

She trailed off and Rin gave a sad smile. "We'll get you help babe, I swear. Right now, we'll get you help."

Kikyo smiled a little, sniffling and trying to wipe away her tears; she was certainly thankful for a friend like Rin.

Rin pulled out her cellphone, dialing information quickly. When a voice answered, she responded in a clipped tone, "Yes, I'd like the number of a pyschiatric help clinic in Tokyo, district B please."

That night, Rin hadn't come home when Kagome went to sleep and her cousin was worried. What on earth could've happened after Rin took care of her business with Kikyo? Did the girl become hostile? Was Rin lying soaked with blood in an alley somewhere? Had she gotten a flat and lost her cell phone? There were many possibilities, each as unlikely as the next, and Kagome spent half her night wondering if she should call the police. At 3:46 a.m, the kitchen door swung open and Rin stumbled inside, tired out of her mind and wishing for a good night's rest, but Kagome was on her case as soon as she entered the house.

Dressed in a white tank top and pink boycut underwear, Kagome had no reservations about running down the stairs to confront her cousin. The girl entered the kitchen with great determination and, upon seeing Rin, she demanded, "Where have you been!"

Rin just sighed heavily, collapsing on the island stool and resting her head in her hands. "Can we talk about it tomorrow, Kagome?"

"No, we most certainly can not!" Kagome said with an indignant, shrill quality to her voice.

After a brief moment of silence, Rin said hoarsely, "I took Kikyo to a pysche clinic down on Rumbold Avenue, checked 'er in, went to 'er house and got 'er stuff, signed a shit load of forms and sat with her for three hours while she cried her heart out. You happy?"

Kagome couldn't think of a single way to respond to this confession and only managed to sit down in a stool adjacent to her cousin. "Wow," she said quietly. "What was wrong with her?"

"Well, she's a nymphomaniac, but that's just the smaller problem on top of the bigger one. Somewhere between her mom dying and her dad becoming a drunk loser, she lost it and that triggered the whole sex crazed thing. I guess...she's depressed. That's her problem, I think," Rin said, sounding rather unsure of herself. Truth be told, after a night like that one, she wasn't sure of anything anymore, not even her own name. Everything seemed weird and foreign, unreal, material, cheap.

Kagome nodded a little, having run across quite a bit of depression in her high school. "That's too bad. Is she going to be okay?"

Smiling at her cousin's obvious concern for someone she'd never even met, Rin replied quietly, "Yeah, she'll pull through. Kikyo always does. She's got a sweet little set up down at the clinic, her own room, doctors and nurses on call, people around who have the same problem. She says if no one visits she'll throw a temper tantrum and set all the patients free." At this, Rin couldn't help but chuckle. "That's so Kikyo, if you only knew."

The two girls were quiet for a while until Kagome said, smiling, "Let's go to bed."

"Yeah," Rin agreed wearily. "To bed."

**I'm proud of this chapter, especially the part where I try to incorporate Kikyo's obssession with sex. I tried to make it life like by thinking outside the box but...well, let's face it, it's hard to pretend your a nymphomaniac, lol. Reviews are welcome and so are flames, but I bet you won't like what I have to say in return. I'm thinking of putting this story up for a contest...maybe.**

**KOLU Connection**


	3. Gearing Up

**Truckin' right along. Thanks to my reviewers! I've decided to take some advice and make Kagome a little less naïve, but not scarred necessarily. I delve into pasts in this chapter, it's a really important chapter. So yeah. Read on and thank you to all my reviewers:**

**Cold Kikyo**

**Princess Angel**

**Dark Saint**

**NICELY DONE! (lol, that's your name)**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own. It's either a product of Rumiko Takahashi, Yamaha, Saleen or Mitsubishi.**

The next morning, Sesshomaru awoke at the ripe hour of eleven and decided it was time to greet the day. Suddenly, he remembered that the race was tonight and he groaned; there was so much to be done before seven that evening. Stretching his muscular limbs routinely, he slipped on a black wife beater and black jeans, grabbing his Fangs jacket on his way out the door.

In the hallway, Sesshomaru became increasingly aware of Inuyasha's snores, which were echoing throughout the house, shaking the rafters and walls. Sighing, the older Taisho brother walked swiftly down the hall and threw open Inuyasha's door, yelling above the noise for his brother to wake up. When Inuyasha showed no signs of doing so, Sesshomaru took a few bold steps inside the room. Clothes were strewn about the floor and the entire place smelt of Axe; the dog demon had to cover his sensitive nose just to keep from fainting.

Finally, Sesshomaru gave a great a mighty bark, which vibrated the entire house and set off a nearby car alarm. Inuyasha woke with a start, tumbling off the bed in only his boxers.

"Get up," Sesshomaru said quietly, smirking to himself as he exited the room. As an after thought, he called back, "Be downstairs in thirty seconds or your walking to headquarters."

As Inuyasha recalled that his car was at headquarters for renovations, he jumped into action, pulling on jeans, a white wife beater and just narrowly grabbing his jacket off the banister on his way out. He jumped into the passenger's seat of Sesshomaru's restored Saleen S7 Twin turbo just as his brother was pulling onto the street, narrowly escaping death-by-hitting-mailbox.

"Jesus, Sesshomaru, what's your frickin' problem!" he asked angrily, trying to get the air vent to blow in his face; Tokyo summers were hot and brutal.

"You're the one who can never get up on time. Besides, we have business. The race is at seven and we haven't tested or tuned up any of our racers, plus you still need to work on Bankotsu's Spyder. Be thankful I got you up, or you'd be in deep shit with the Cobras," came Sesshomaru's dry reply.

The Cobras were one of the nearby gangs, fiercely loyal to one another and abundant in numbers. They were lead by Bankotsu Hayashi, who was flanked on all sides by his six brothers. They were a mix matched family of adopted boys, picked up from all corners of the world by Bankotsu's passionate mother, and were literally thick as thieves. The Cobras had an eerie talent for coming up with anything you asked for, appliances, CDs, clothing, without price tags or receipts. In other words, the Cobras were experienced crooks. Generous crooks, but crooks none the less.

There was brief moment of silence before Inuyasha asked, "Did you write Shitora last night?"

His older brother sighed, flipping on his blinker. "Didn't have time. I'll do it tonight."

"You better, or Shitora'll shit a brick," Inuyasha laughed with a small smile; what he wouldn't give to see his sister again.

Shitora Taisho was a half demon like her brother Inuyasha, Inutaisho's only daughter and little princess. When Inutaisho's wife Izayoi died, he feared Shitora might never learn the ways of women and sent her to live with his sister, Naomi. Naomi lived in a high class town renowned for its uppity society parties, country clubs and prissy boarding schools. Shitora attended one of these boarding schools and lived with her Aunt all year round, coming home on the occasional Christmas. She hadn't been home to Tokyo in 3 years. This was a devastating blow for the Taisho brothers, for the three children were very close; though the tough gang boys might not admit it, they missed their wild little sister and knew no high class society could contain her for long. Just like them, she was a smoking, cussing, car racing machine and she couldn't stand the upper class and all its rules. Unfortunately, no one could convince Inutaisho to bring her home. Some say it was because she looked exactly like her mother.

"You still polish her motorcycle, don't you?" Sesshomaru asked suddenly, peering over at his little brother. Inuyasha looked away, refusing to answer the question and seeming preoccupied with the passing scenery. Smiling a bit, Sesshomaru said, "I thought so."

When the Saleen pulled up to the warehouse, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha found the large door open. Like most warehouses in the area, the Fang headquarters had one small door for regular entrances and one large one which took up an entire wall of the warehouse. It was built like and airplane hangar, if you will, and today the Fangs had raised the wall.

The others were already there and preparing for the night's race, working on motorcycles, cars and making phone calls to other gangs. Kouga was discussing the cam caps on a Yamaha FZ1 with Ayame, who was quite an experienced mechanic. Her father owned a mechanics shop on the corner of Salter and 29th, right inside the jurisdiction of the Fangs. He happened to be an ex-Fang member himself, back in his high school days, and he wasn't keen on the idea of his daughter being involved. Though the two argued about the issue daily, Mr. Saitou was always willing to help out Ayame's friends with their mechanical problems; he was a desperately kind soul, just like his daughter.

Rin was sitting back in the lounge corner, dressed in a sports bra and a leather skirt, talking on her cell phone to Ranbou, leader of the Reikons and experienced motorcycle racer. She seemed to be sweet talking him into entering the race quite nicely and no one dared bother her while she attended to business.

Miroku and Sango were elbow deep in the transmission of a red RX7 which read the Kanji characters for "spirit" and "determination" on the side. They seemed to be arguing about something as they did so, though Miroku continued to laugh at random intervals, serving only to make Sango angrier.

As the Taisho brothers walked into the warehouse, assorted greetings were called and Rin glanced up from her phone call, saying quickly, "Ranbou, I gotta go; Yash just walked in and he doesn't know about...well, some stuff. So, not racing, but see you tonight? You're a doll, by honey."

Flipping the phone shut with a quick snap of her wrist, Rin leapt of the counter and jogged towards Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru groaned a little, looking away from his girlfriend as she came bouncing...erm...running up to them. Inuyasha grinned, giving his brother a pat on the back before Rin arrived, slightly out of breath.

"Yash, I need to talk to you really fast. Oh, hey baby," she said almost as a second thought, leaning up to kiss a pained Sesshomaru briefly on the lips.

Miroku muffled a snicker into his left hand as Sango rolled her eyes plaintively. "You think she'd remember the whole boobs issue by now," the girl mused. "She's had them for at least four years now."

Kagome was incredibly bored as she sat against the warehouse wall, wearing baggy jeans and a black singlet; she'd ditched her preppy clothes upon getting up that morning, realizing that fashion was of absolutely no consequence in this town. She might as well just wear what she felt and that day, she felt rather grungy. She also felt useless, seeing as though she'd never worked on cars in her life and couldn't help the others in the least. The only thing she understood around this place was the tools; her father had been a contractor before he died and he'd taught her quite a bit about building houses. Mechanic tools were slightly different, however, and she didn't trust herself to tell them apart from one another. Too bad her father wasn't alive today, she thought almost wistfully; the shrine where she lived back in Kyoto could certainly use a new roof and some foundation sealing. Her stepfather was hardly the work-around-the-house type. _He's not really the "in-the-house" type, period,_ Kagome thought bitterly. Her stepfather was probably a wonderful guy; he just wasn't home enough for her to know.

Kagome noticed Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's interest and her blood boiled slightly; that Inuyasha was a selfish, arrogant prick. She had to admit, though; the boy was quite handsome. At the current moment, Rin had pulled Inuyasha aside and she was speaking to him with an earnest expression on her face. Kagome could only guess what they were talking about, most likely Kikyo's current location in the psychiatric clinic. Now, Inuyasha had his hands on his hips and he was looking down at the ground, his beautiful white bangs covering his face. For a moment, Kagome's heart went out to him; it must be hard to hear someone you cared about was in a clinic. She knew from personal experience it was hard to see someone you cared about in the hospital, hooked up to several machines, not even breathing on their own, pale as snow, lifeless...

She shook the memories away. _No use in whining about the past. Still...I miss him so much..._

"...and we can visit her whenever we want. The doctor said it was good I brought her because she was suffering from severe depression...I'm sorry Yash, I bet this must be hard for you. I wish I could help, but..." Rin's voice broke a little and she turned away, wondering where these tears were coming from. She hadn't cried in years and it wasn't the time to start.

"S'alright, Rin, you did the right thing," Inuyasha said quietly, embracing the girl lightly before ruffling her hair. "She'll pull through," he barely whispered, offering the girl a barely-there smile before walking towards the car elevators.

Rin compose herself briefly before turning and walking towards Sesshomaru, who was reading over papers at the desk in the lounge. He glanced up, seeing the distraught look on his girlfriend's face, and he immediately diverted his attention from the papers.

"Rin, what's wrong baby?" he asked, thoroughly puzzled; Rin was so rarely upset, it was startling to see her looking so melancholy.

Rin just sighed, sitting own across from Sesshomaru and resting her elbows on the table, holding her head in her hands. "Kikyo's at a psyche clinic," she said in a tired, muffled voice.

The leader of the Fangs blinked quirking an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Long story short, she broke down when I went to see her, not like beggin' to come back er nothin', just over...sex. She's gotta have it, like a disease or somethin', an I knew somethin' was up. So I took her to a psyche clinic and she's got severe depression. They think the nymphomania is a side effect of that, er some shit. I dunno, Sesh, I just dunno. Things are pretty crazy right now..." Rin mumbled, sitting up and running a troubled hand through her hair. "Now my core group's down to three and this is gonna be a blow to the rest of my girls. I haven't told Sango and Ayame yet...this is such a fuckin' mess."

Sighing a little, Sesshomaru reached across the table and gently took Rin's hands in his. "Look me in the eyes, Rin," he said firmly, watching as she raised her head almost shamefully. "You can't control any of these things, so you shouldn't blame yourself. You're just adding to all the stress you already take on. You can't take the world on your shoulders, baby. You just can't do it."

"I know," Rin said quietly. "I just...you know how I am."

Sesshomaru smiled, leaning across the table to kiss her lightly on the forehead. "Yeah, I know how you are."

Over with Inuyasha he was just lowering Bankotsu's Mitsubishi Spyder down from a car elevator when Kagome decided she'd had enough of sitting around. Standing up determinedly, she walked boldly over to Inuyasha and said, "Hey."

The boy looked over with some confusion, surprised she would want to talk to him after their spat yesterday. Seeing that she wasn't coming over to renew their fight, he just shrugged to himself and responded, "Sup?"

Trying not to seem pathetic or desperate for something to do, Kagome replied easily, "Well, just bored as hell, you know how it is."

Inuyasha smirked, looking up and guiding the car down unnecessarily with his hands. "Yeah, I do."

The car came to rest on the ground as the elevator pole retreated beneath the ground into the shaft and Kagome bit her lip, realizing she couldn't be of help if she didn't know what she was doing. And if she wouldn't have something to do if she couldn't be of help. So, therefore, according to the Transitive property of geometry, her least favorite subject, she wouldn't have something to do if she didn't know what she was doing.

"Um..." she began, still trying to retain her tough face. When Inuyasha looked expectantly over at her, she decided this whole facade thing wasn't worth it and she gave a weary sigh. "Look, I don't know anything about mechanics and I just need something to do, so if you want me to hand you tools or whatever, I can try my best."

Inuyasha looked blankly at her for a second before bursting out laughing, causing Kagome to frown and cross her arms. "What's so funny?"

"You just looked so pathetic right then," Inuyasha laughed, slapping his knee in all his hilarity.

Kagome just rolled her eyes. "Oh, forget it."

When she turned to go, Inuyasha reached out a hand and managed to get out, "Wait, haha, I'm just being an asshole. You can help me, as long as you don't get in the way."

Turning back around so quickly she thought her head might jerk off, Kagome asked excitedly, "Really?" Realizing she was probably looking pathetic again, she cleared her throat and corrected smoothly, "I mean, oh yeah, that's cool and everything."

Inuyasha just shook his head, still smiling. "Whatever, you're weird."

Though she tried to seem angry, Kagome couldn't help but laugh. "Hey! I'm helping you, so be nice."

Inuyasha walked over to the wall where several portable work cabinets were positioned and rolled on over, positioning it just to the left of the Spyder's hood. Reaching inside the driver's seat window, he pushed a button near the steering wheel base and popped the hood, propping up the top on the trunk stick. Gesturing to the spaghetti parts of the machine, Inuyasha declared, "This is my canvas. I'm an art-eest."

Kagome laughed, replying, "If you're an artist, I'm a race car driver."

"You just might end up being one by the time I'm done with you," Inuyasha said, only half joking. "Now, you don't know anything about cars?"

Kagome shook her head. "Except how to drive one? No."

Cracking his knuckles, Inuyasha rolled his muscular shoulders before saying, "Well, you'll know something about them by the end of today. See this here?" he asked, pointing to a large block in the center of the mechanical mess. When Kagome nodded, Inuyasha continued, "That's the engine. You know that runs the car, but you probably don't know how. Okay..." Inuyasha trailed off, wondering how he could explain this.

Kagome couldn't help but notice, as she stood beside Inuyasha looking at the cars organs, that Inuyasha smelled absolutely fantastic. It was Axe body spray, she was pretty sure, but she couldn't quite pin point what kind. Remembering that she was supposed to be learning about cars, she tuned back into the conversation. Inuyasha was still looking up at the ceiling, wondering how he explain the wonderful what of mechanics; he looked very handsome, tan face relaxed and focused. His eyes were absolutely mesmerizing, Kagome realized, the beautiful amber color of sunset. He was also ridiculously strong, she noticed, probably from days of gang activity; that sounded strenuous, though she wasn't sure what they did. In fact, as Inuyasha stood there looking so thoughtful, he looked a little bit like the David.

"Okay," Inuyasha picked back up, completely oblivious to Kagome's attention to his body. "The car depends gasoline, water and air, that's the first thing you need to know."

"Wait, I thought cars just ran off gasoline?" Kagome interjected, looking very confused.

Inuyasha just shook his head. "A lot of people think that, but no. See, in the engine, there's a chamber about yea big called the Combustion chamber," he explained, holding his hands out to demonstrate the size of the combustion chamber; it was about seven inches long and six inches circumference. "Now there's a computer inside all this mess that controls how much ambient air comes in from outside the car. In this thing called the fuel injection system, the computer decides how much fuel should be injected into the combustion chamber. The fuel and air are proportional, like in a constant ratio. With me so far?"

Kagome nodded a little, taking it all in as Inuyasha continued, using his hands to demonstrate what he was saying. "And inside the combustion chamber, there is this thing called a piston. The piston is like a hammer that goes up and down, up and down constantly. Get me?" Again, Kagome nodded. "Okay. So here's how everything works. The fuel injection system injects fuel into the combustion chamber via a valve, which is like a stopped up passageway that only opens when the cams move. The cams are like arms and they only move when the fuel and air are in proportion to one another. So the valve opens, the fuel goes in, and at this point, the piston is down. It goes up, in what is called compression, to make sure the explosion that comes next is more powerful. So then, just when the piston is getting to the top, a little thing called a spark plug gives off a spark and this makes a little explosion with the gasoline. This forced the pistol down, in what is called combustion, and the exhaust from this whole thing goes out another valve opening on the right side of the chamber, opposite the intake valve. So basically, the car runs off little explosions."

There was dead silence as Kagome tried to work out all of the information just given to her and Inuyasha rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm not too good at explaining things."

"No, no, you're great at explaining it, it's just a lot of info." Kagome took a deep breath. "Okay, I think I get it. So, this is what happens."

Kagome proceeded to repeat the entire process, complete with correct terminology, back to Inuyasha, who looked stunned by the time she was done. He hadn't really understood engines until he got his hands on one, which had taken quite a bit of coaxing from his brother. Even then, he was still shaky on some of the concepts. Maybe Inuyasha was a better explainer than her thought.

"Wow," he mumbled. "You actually get it." Clearing his throat, he put back on his tough face. "Okay, so you hear people being like, 'it's a V8,' or whatever, right?"

Kagome nodded. "I don't know what it means, though," she confessed.

"We'll fix that," Inuyasha reassured her. "What I just explained to you was one cylinder. Imagine 4, 6 or 8 of those going at one time. Now there's three kinds of arrangements for the pistons. Inline, which is slightly slanted with all the pistons going one way. Flat, which is just like the pistons moving parallel to the ground, or V, which is when they move in two different directions upwards from one base, making a V. So a V8 is when their are 8 pistons, and therefore 8 cylinders. Same with a V6 and a V4. Get me?"

After a moment of contemplation, Kagome said quietly, "I think I get it now." Nodding her head as though to reassure herself, she continued louder, "I get it now! Now I know what everyone's been talking about!"

Inuyasha laughed at the girl's obvious excitement, quirking an eyebrow when Kagome raised a hand to give him a high five. She sort of pulsed her hand, as thought to say, 'come on now, give me five,' and it took Inuyasha a few seconds before he responded. The two slapped hands and Inuyasha couldn't help but chuckle.

"Who gives high fives anymore?" he joked.

"I do," Kagome replied in a snooty voice, crossing her arms triumphantly.

Smirking, Inuyasha patted the toolbox roller beside him and asked, "Know anything about tools?"

"My father was a construction worker, if that helps. I know _those _tools," Kagome replied unsurely.

Shrugging, Inuyasha said, "Can't be that different. Wrench, drill, screwdriver, s'all the same to me."

"I'll try," Kagome murmured, looking at the variety of tools in awe as Inuyasha opened the drawer, "but I can't guarantee anything."

Yet Inuyasha merely smiled. "No sweat, your learning."

Over where Kouga and Ayame were working on the Yamaha motorcycle, a quite different conversation was going on. Rin had recently pulled Ayame aside and shared the details of Kikyo's break down with her; for the moment, Ayame was trying to look on the bright side of life and failing to find it. She kept thinking through all those wonderful times she'd had with Kikyo, but the bad kept overshadowing her memories.

After a while of watching Ayame, Kouga finally said, "She'll be okay."

Ayame accidentally dropped the wrench she'd been working with, wincing as the clatter upset her sensitive wolf ears. "Shit. How? Were you...listening to us talking just now?" she asked, sounding slightly irritated.

Kouga sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Not really, I just asked Sesshomaru why Rin looked so upset and he kinda told me the story. Don't be mad or nothin', I mean I would've heard somehow."

With a shrug of her thin shoulders, Ayame replied easily, "Eh, no matter to me. I don't know why it's such a secret or whatever. That's life; you have your ups and downs. Right now, Kikyo is just having a down. Nothing to worry about."

Before Kouga could say a single word of comfort, Ayame reached over on the table and grabbed the rider's helmet, throwing it in Kouga's direction. He caught it against his chest, inwardly wondering if Ayame was really as adjusted as she pretended to be. Deciding it was best not to argue with a slightly depressed woman, he just smiled; that was the safest action, he figured.

"Try 'er out, man," she said easily, pointing to the road outside the warehouse. "Get 'er up to 110 at least, or don't come back in here."

Kouga chuckled and put on the helmet, securing it and flipping down the visor before he mounted the motorcycle. With a turn of the key and a rev of his hand, he removed the kick stand and gunned the throttle. The engine roared, a beautiful screaming purr, and Kouga took off out of the warehouse at a quick speed, leaving tired marks in his wake. Ayame just smiled, watching him go before beginning to clean the grease off her hands. There was no better therapy than getting elbow deep in mechanics. With this thought in mind, she turned her attention to a YZF600R motorcycle with a flat tire.

Sango wiped her forehead free of sweat, leaving a smudge of grease behind. Her deep brown eyes were intently focused on the overhead cams of this RX7, which she knew could go faster. Miroku said he clocked it at 160, but Sango just knew that, with the right mods, this car could outweigh even the fastest American muscle machines. Miroku's RX7, his baby, was the pride and joy of the Fangs. He had never lost a race and wasn't planning on breaking this streak anytime soon, but one never knows what's just around the corner, win or loss.

Miroku walked up behind Sango, wiping his hands on a grease rag. "So, any luck?" he asked.

Sighing heavily, Sango leaned back from the hood parts. "No, but I just know-"

"That it can go faster, yes Sango, you've said that a million times," Miroku replied with a wide smile; he loved the way she tended to repeat herself when she was focused. Sango was such an intense person that, once her mind was set on something, she put her heart and soul into it even after she'd walked away from the situation. This was one thing Miroku loved about her, her strong commitment. It would make her a good girlfriend, he thought absently, trying not to stray from the subject too much. Imagining Sango as a girlfriend just made him imagine her as _his _girlfriend, which depressed him; he though he could never have her.

Rin walked up to Sango, tapping her lightly on the shoulder and just barely getting her friend's attention away from the car. "Sango, we need to have some girl talk real quick in the corner."

Miroku handed Sango the grease rag and exchanged confused glances with her as she followed Rin to the corner. Miroku watched the exchange with some fear inherent; whenever girls had talks like this, it often meant bad things. Sango's face looked like a mix of shock, horror, sadness and anger as she stood there, looking, in Miroku's opinion, heart breakingly beautiful. Finally, Rin embraced her in a short business-like hug before returning to her phone calls. Sango walked slowly back to the RX7, seeming as though in a trance, and Miroku furrowed his brow.

"Is everything alright, Sango?" he asked gently.

"Yes, I'm f- I mean everything's fine," Sango stuttered out, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as though afraid she might throw up. Tears burned the corners of her eyes as she imagined her best friend alone in some psyche hospital, face pale and eyes bloodshot... she turned her face away from Miroku, feeling as though she might collapse right there in the warehouse.

Miroku was immediately at the girl's side, holding her steady as she went through what seemed to be some kind of fainting spell. After a short time, Sango managed to get out, "I'm okay now."

Tentatively removing his hands, Miroku saw that she was now somewhat steady on her feet and he took a step back, observing her close to colorless face. Making a quick decision, Miroku called out, "Hey, Sess, Sango and I are gonna go take a break, get some lunch, we'll be back in a while, okay?"

The leader of the Fangs glanced up from his papers, nodding a little before returning to his work. Miroku placed one hand on the small of Sango's back, leading her to her Honda Civic and placing her gently in the passenger's seat before retrieving her keys and wallet from the center console. Without another word, he pulled out onto the warehouse road and headed for the highway.

Ayame tried to focus on her work, but Kikyo's face kept on plaguing her thoughts; what if the people at the psyche clinic were treating her poorly? What if she never got better? What if part of this was somehow the Wildcat's fault, Ayame's fault? Shouldn't she have noticed this sooner than later? As she lost sight of her work just for a moment, she caught her finger carelessly on one of the loose screws and cut open the flesh on her hand, causing her to let out a curse.

Just as she did this, a pair of strong hands enveloped her own and she looked up to find Kouga standing over her, skin heated with the rush of the road. She hadn't even heard him pull up, she'd been so preoccupied with her thoughts and work, but she could care less at this point. Every single thought she owned centered around Kikyo; it was driving her mad.

Kouga walked Ayame over to the lounge area, wetting a rag in the industrial wall sink before dabbing it soothingly on Ayame's hand. The girl sighed, whispering, "Thanks."

The boy just smiled his heartbreaking smile, ice blue eyes shining. "No problem."

Rin and Sesshomaru watched this exchange silently from the table and Rin smirked; she could smell love in the making, even if she didn't possess and amazing demon nose. Sesshomaru smiled quietly to himself, fiddling once more with his infamous papers. These papers were all records of the Fangs business, their imports, exports, IOUs, records of amounts owed to them, and several other things. Right now, he was puzzling over the maintenance records on Miroku's RX7, wondering if Miroku and Sango had remembered a very simple thing: to change the oil. According to this record, the RX7 was long overdue for one.

Eventually, Inuyasha and Kagome realized it was well passed lunch time and their stomachs were growling, so they decided to take a break. The pair came walking over from the Spyder, which was soon to be in tip top shape, and Inuyasha fetched a bag of beef jerky from a drawer in the lounge. "Teriyaki or regular?" he asked Kagome.

Rolling her eyes at the menu, Kagome replied, "Teriyaki, please."

As Inuyasha passed Sesshomaru, he said casually, "You know, I can write that letter to Shitora if you're too busy."

The older Taisho brother glanced up, asking, "Could you? It's not that I don't want to, just-"

"Don't sweat it, Sesh, Tora understands. You forget, she was there the day Kei crowned you leader," Inuyasha broke in, smiling a little at his brother's compulsive tendencies.

As Inuyasha returned to the couch area with the selected beef jerky, a pencil and a notepad, Kagome furrowed her brow. "Who's Shitora?"

Inuyasha propped the note pad up on the arm of the couch, replying absently, "My sister, she's away at boarding school."

Kagome nodded a little, munching at the beef jerky as Inuyasha began to write. This certainly had been an interesting day so far; she could only hesitate to wonder what the race would be like. The news of Kikyo's illness saddened her, even though she didn't actually know the girl, and Kagome wished she could help her cousin work through the grief. Yet, Kagome knew from personal experience that handling grief is all up to the grieving; one just has to stiffen their upper lip and work through it. And that's exactly what the Wildcats would do: work through it.

_Dear Shitora,_

_I'm at headquarters right now getting ready for a big ass race tonight. Kouga's gonna take out the FZ1 and I think Miroku is working up the RX7, but you never know with that car; it has an average eight problems after Miroku gets done with it and you never know what he'll do in it next; he's a crazy sonofabitch driver, but you knew that already. You'd be impressed with the paint job he did on it, very cool. In any case, Rin's cousin Kagome came to stay with Rin for senior year and she's apparently getting adjusted to Tokyo over the summer or something cause she's here already. She was kind of a bitch yesterday, but she wasn't so bitchy today. I got to teach her about engines with excited me; you know how I get with cars. She actually wasn't half bad at engines and shit, a really good memory for where things go. I bet I'll turn her into a mechanic yet. Dad still gets in late and goes to work early, late and early enough that Sesh and I never seeing. You gotta wonder exactly what they make him do at the plant, but we'll never really know. The other day, Sesh found an overdue bill in dad's office. It was for water payments and things like that, so we don't know what's up. We can't confront him or he'll know we were in his study and you know how shitpicky he is about that. I've been meaning to try and convince him to bring you home, but I never see him, so that's getting increasingly difficult. Oh, I'm not going out with Kikyo anymore. She cheated on me with a Tarantula and I caught her, giving him head and everything. Rin went to tell her she was out of the Wildcats and Kikyo had like a serious break down. Rin got her to a psyche clinic and they say she's got severe depression and nymphomania. Well thank you Captain Obvious, no fricking shit. In any case, how's life in Furuba? Meet any boys? Cause if you did, I'll pound em. Sesh is sorry he couldn't write this one, but he's doing Leader things and he's really stressed out. He barked me awake this morning; Rin needs to get him into bed more often or he'll never let up. If she could do it before the race tonight, that'd be great..._

_Love, Inuyasha_

**Tell me what you thought. You guys will absolutely love Shitora, she doesn't actually come in for a while, but she's the world's most awesome character. I'm gonna get someone to do a drawing of her once I get to chapter 7, where she ought to appear. Thanks once again to the reviewers, listed at top.**

**KOLU**


	4. The Race Part I

**Hey there again; this chapter took me quite a while and I actually split up two chapters; I planned to make the race and its preparation one chapter, but, as you can see, 13 pages was quite enough for one I thought. Lol. I introduce the Shici'nintai in this chapter, as I just saw those episodes, behind I know. OMG, BANKOTSU IS A LITTLE SEX GOD! HE'S SO HOT/COOL! Lol, I go crazy over anime guys like that sometimes. You also meet Ranbou is this chapter; he's one of my personal favorite original characters, Kouga's brother. Okay, enjoy everyone.**

**Thanks to my reviewers, new and old. We add Kay to the list. You're kickass too, Kay. BelovedLight also joined us, thank you very much. Also, blackrosevampire15 suggested we add some music to this story and I think I might just do that. I've been toying with the idea of adding a soundtrack to the beginning of each story so that everyone can feel what I feel when I write it. Like, during this section, play this song. I'm gonna try it out, I think.**

**Belovedlight**

**Kay**

**Cold Kikyo**

**Blackrosevampire15**

**PrinecssAngel**

**NICELY DONE**

**Darksaint**

Sango played lazily with a sugar packet, drawing circles on the table with her finger as she told Miroku of Kikyo's breakdown and current stay in the psyche hospital. Miroku listened patiently, nodding and frowning at all the right moments; he had never seen Sango so emotional, weak or frightened before in his life. Frankly, it was startling and sent his whole world askew, but he would never admit this; Fangs had to be strong, manly, apathetic to all but the gang. It was hard when the woman you loved spilled her guts to you, though.

When she was finished, Sango gave a heavy sigh and leaned back against the booth, looking absently around the restaurant. It was your normal greasy spoon burger joint, complete with gruff waitresses and abominable coffee, but the location mattered less than the conversation. Frankly, Sango was grateful to Miroku for listening to her emotional dribble. In fact, she'd never felt this comfortable in conversation with a man before; Miroku made everything seem so realistic and as though it were perfect. It was hard to explain the spin Miroku put on things, but he made dreams seem achievable, like anything was possible and the world was tamable. He was quite comforting.

"I mean, what if she never gets better? What if she's on pills the rest of her life, falsely happy through the 'magic of medicine' or whatever? I don't want that for her!" Sango almost whined, crossing her arms as a chill ran through her body. Despite the booth she sat in, Sango's knees were pulled up to her chest as though she were trying to become small enough to disappear.

Miroku was silent for a moment as he configured his next words. Finally, he asked, "Do you remember back when Kikyo was going out with Kouga's brother?"

Sango blinked, thinking back to when her best friend had a week fling with Ranbou Ookami, leader of the Reikons. "Yeah. So what?"

"I still remember the day they broke up. It was a race night and Kikyo was looking for Ranbou when she found him making out with some racer chaser against the hood of his Mustang. You remember that?" Sango nodded, smiling a little; of course she remembered. Miroku continued telling the story, even though Sango remembered it; it was nice to hear it again, anyway. "She walked right up to him and said, 'Baby, you just lost the hottest piece of ass in Tokyo.' Then she walked back to us singing-"

"I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair," Sango interjected quietly.

The two met eyes, neither daring to look away as they searched longingly for that one spark, the one truly visible sign denoting affection. In one split second, Sango found it, that undeniable love which Miroku had fostered for three years now...but she dared not get involved with him. It would only lead to heartache, she was convinced, and she looked quickly away, mumbling, "Thank you...for everything Miroku."

Sighing a little at his failed attempt to express his feelings, Miroku smiled slightly. "Anytime, Sango."

Again the two were captured by silence, but it was soon broken by the tinkling ring of Sango's cell phone. Glad for a distraction, she whipped it out of her pocket. "Speak."

"Hey byotch, it's Rin," came the other voice.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" Sango asked, smiling at Miroku as he smiled from across the table.

"We're getting ready at my house, be here in ten."

"Ten! Jesus, you little slave driver. Fine, see you there." Flipping the phone shut, Sango glanced up at Miroku and said wearily, "I have to be at my fearless leader's house in ten minutes to get ready for the races. I'll drop you back at the warehouse. Sound okay?"

The two slid out of the booth as Miroku stretched his muscular arms. "Sounds good."

Sango couldn't help but stare as he unstiffened his rather impressive body and he peered sideways at her, a smirk forming on his face. "Like what you see?"

The girl just snorted. "You wish, Houshi. Let's go."

Sango pulled up to the warehouse, noticing the growing group of people beginning to mill about inside headquarters; the rest of the gang was showing up to ride to the race site together; Fang and Wildcat jackets were everywhere. As Sango's Civic rode on the gravel, several girls turned around and ran towards her, all dressed in amazingly revealing leather. One girl in particular was looking stunning this night as she jogged up in a black leather corset and red leather pants, dark hair flying out in molten steel rippled behind her; Sango knew her well.

Kaguya Wattanabe hurried to the driver's side window as Miroku jumped out, looking positively dazed by all the beautiful girls; it was the same at every race.

"Hey girl," Kaguya said with a weak smile.

Sango smiled in return, slightly stronger than her friend. "Hey. How you holding up since...well, last night?"

"Considering that my little sister's a nympho? Pretty good," Kaguya joked lightly, trying to laugh but failing. After a moment, she continued, "I visited her today. She's not doing too well, but the doctor said she'll recover in six to seven months, he thinks. She says you should come and visit soon."

Sango bit her lip, nodding slightly. "I will. Course I will."

"Good," Kaguya replied, looking almost relieved. Peering at Sango's ensemble, the beautiful girl quirked an eyebrow. "Haven't changed yet?"

"Heading over to Leader's right now," Sango replied, using the name which Rin went by to the gang. "I'm gonna sex myself up."

Kaguya laughed, giving the hood of the car a pat as Sango sped off towards Rin's. "Have fun!" she called, waving a little before running back towards the other girls.

Sango made it to Rin's rather quickly via the highway, exceeding a few speed limits, yet all in good taste. The servants recognized her car, as she'd been over quite a few times in the past, and they let her through the gate immediately. Pulling up the driveway, she could already see Ayame's crotch rocket and Rin's Mercedes in front of the house. Sango parked her car and pocketed her keys, walking straight through the front door without knocking.

A passing maid smiled, bowing a little and saying, "Good evening, Mistress Sango."

"Huh? Oh, hey," Sango said, still unused to be called 'mistress.'

Just then, the two heard a rather unearthly screech from upstairs. Sango returned her gaze to the maid, quirking a questioning eyebrow; the maid only continued to smile brightly. "Oh, nothing to worry about, it's only Lady Rin trying to force Miss Kagome into something provocative."

With this, the maid turned and continued dusting the vases and picture frames in the dining room. Sango sighed, turning and making her way up one of the curving staircases. Walking rather slowly to Rin's room, Sango peered inside to find Kagome dressed only in her underwear, hugging herself against the wall. Rin was holding up a leopard printed bikini top, insisting it was perfectly decent, while Ayame just shook her head from the window seat.

"Ahem," Sango said loudly, drawing the attention away from Kagome's frightened face to her presence in the doorway. "Hi?"

Rin didn't even bother to respond, only rushing to the door and dragging Sango inside. "Sango, tell her this is decent," the Wildcat's leader almost pouted.

Looking from the bra in Rin's outstretched hand to the horrified look on Kagome's face, Sango finally replied, "It's decent, just not for Kagome. Hold on, Rin, let me see your closet."

Kagome gave a sigh of relief as Sango walked over to her, taking her gently by the shoulder and ushering her towards the walk in closet. The two girls walked inside, looking at the veritable store's worth of black, red, pink, white and silver leather and cotton. Kagome turned to Sango and said with wide eyes, "God I love you. I thought she was gonna stick me outside in my bra or something."

Sango grinned, joking, "Oh, she's walk out in that before. Sesshomaru nearly threw up, I think."

While Kagome laughed, picturing the reserved boy about to lose his lunch over his girlfriend's provocative clothing, Sango flipped through racks of dress options. Finally, she selected a black, strapless corset belly shirt and a pair of black leather pants with flames licking at the bottoms; Sango recalled this particular pair of pants being to big for Rin. "This okay?" she asked.

Kagome's eyes almost glowed as she fingered the clothing. "This rocks, Sango!" she declared, voice rising several octaves.

Sango smirked. "Cool."

The two exited the closet, only to find Ayame completely top naked as she changed into her own clothing for the race. Kagome gave a small sound of surprise but Sango merely walked towards a pile of discarded leather clothes on the floor. "Are these Kagome's rejects?" she asked.

Rin popped her head out of the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth and replied, "Yesh," through a mouthful of toothpaste.

After picking through the clothes for a few minutes, Sango held up a red bikini top and black leather miniskirt. "This is alright," she announced, beginning to strip down.

Kagome soon realized that the Wildcats didn't care a lick about modesty and she decided to do as the Romans were doing. Throwing her selected outfit down on the ground, she unhooked her bra and began struggling into the strapless corset. After a brief moment of puzzling, Kagome decided to just attack the leather pants with great enthusiasm. She stepped into them and pulled up, trying her best to zip them but finding it impossible. Ayame, who was wearing a red leather skirt with black flames on the hem and a matching corset, had stopped brushing her hair to watch Kagome in her struggle. Sango too had paused what she was doing and finally took pity on the new girl.

"Kagome, try laying flat on your back on the bed and shimmying. You know, kind of wiggle," Sango tried to explain; putting on leather pants was no small task.

Deciding to take the girls advice, Kagome fell back onto the bed, bucking her hips and deftly zipping the zipper. She buttoned the pants quickly and gave a sound of triumph, standing and displaying her new ensemble. The girls all gave sounds of approval; Kagome certainly cut a dashing figure in leather. It clung to her curves, which were sadly understated in the clothes she normally wore, and brought out the beautiful cafe color of her skin.

Rin poked her head out of the bathroom, where she was now applying her makeup, and called, "See Kags? Your boobies were always there, they just wanted to come out to play! Now they look fantastic!"

At her cousin's words, Kagome flashed a wicked smile and crossed her arms haughtily. "They're just shy, okay?" Dressed in these clothes, Kagome suddenly felt liberated, as though she held power over the world and everyone in it. Despite the narcissism these clothes evoked in her, Kagome also felt...alive.

Ayame chuckled as she struggled to get a black stud through her cartilage piercing. "That was something Kikyo would've said," she remarked wanly.

The Wildcats leader strutted through the bathroom door, completely naked, and all but ran into her closet, screaming, "Where the hell are my stiletto boots!"

The other girls knew this was a rhetorical question and ignored her angry whines, continuing on with their own conversation. Sango seemed to stiffen at Ayame's words concerning Kikyo, but she finally agreed, "You're right. They look a little alike, too. See?"

Kagome blushed under their scrutiny, clasping her hands behind her back and shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. Finally, Ayame nodded. "Mhmm, I see it."

Rin practically leapt out of the closet, wearing her aforementioned stiletto boots with a scandalous black miniskirt and matching leather corset top. Spinning around in what was supposed to be a flirtatious manner, Rin asked eagerly, "What do you think?"

Ayame and Sango only exchanged glances while Kagome quirked an eyebrow. "You look like a dominatrix."

"Good," came Rin's quick reply. Her lipstick was a dark, passionate red, accentuating the brilliant sheen of her dark hair, and Kagome suddenly realized how her bubbly cousin became the stern leader of the Wildcats; she commanded respect with her beauty.

"Let's go!" Rin urged, grabbing her gang jacket off a nearby chair and jogging out the door.

Sango sighed, sticking one arm through her jacket while simultaneously making her way towards the staircase. "Better follow," she murmured.

With that, Ayame and Kagome followed in hot pursuit, hurrying downstairs to the cars and motorcycle. They took off down the concrete pathway onto the street, making a beeline for the warehouse with the air practically alight with excitement. Tonight they raced not only for glory, but for honor. And the Fangs would not lose.

"Yo, Hakkaku, toss me the boot puller!"

Hakkaku, a wolf demon with a starch white mohawk, tossed the tool in Kouga's direction, leaning back against the hood of his black Maserati coupe. He seemed almost bored with all the hubbub around him, which included the screaming of arguing gangs members, raucous laughing and girls squealing about nothing in particular. This was the common scene on race nights as all those allied and involved with the Fangs met at headquarters, catching up on the past week's business or working their asses off to perfect their racing machine. As for Kouga, he was doing the latter with help from the Fang core and a few of their closer friends.

Ginta, another wolf demon with a mop of white hair and a skunk like black streak, peered at the motorcycle's cams with an experienced eye. "I think you got a loose one here, Ko."

"What?" the boy demanded. "Lemme see." Kouga got down on the floor to gain a good vantage point and winced. "Damnit, he's right. Yash, wrench!"

Inuyasha turned to the open tool box and grabbed the right sized wrench, tossing it in Kouga's direction. The wolf demon caught it deftly, ice blue eyes intensely focused as he was careful not to strip the bolt's moorings. Finally, convinced that the machine was in top shape, Kouga stood and wiped off his hands on a grease rag. Excitement ran through his gut as he observed the melee in the warehouse; he loved race nights.

Sesshomaru walked up in a white wife beater and black jeans, which accentuated his muscular body nicely, cigarette dangling from his mouth as he joined Hakkaku on the hood of his car. "Everyone ready?" he asked, smoke spilling from his mouth and nose.

Miroku walked up at this exact moment, taking a swig from his cold beer and replying, "I was born ready."

Bankotsu Hayashi turned from where he was inspecting Inuyasha's job on his car and he gave a low moan. "Houshi, that was the cheesiest damn line I ever heard."

Bankotsu was quite an impressive figure in his black wife beater and jeans, silver Cobra's jacket slung over the back of a nearby chair. His long dark hair was always braided behind him, wayward bangs framing a pair of crimson eyes, the very shade of blood. Needless to say, his looks and position as leader of the Cobras got a fair number of women in his bed; he was a known sleep around. He was an earth demon, and quite a powerful one, yet this little to deter his gang members; they were fiercely loyal to their leader for he took care of each and every one of them.

"I try," Miroku said cockily, throwing his arms akimbo as the others chuckled.

The group of boys dissolved into a conversation about the competition, only to be interrupted moments later. "Yo, Shomo!"

Sesshomaru turned his head, taking in the sight of Ranbou Ookami as he strolled towards the group, arrogant smile in place as he too smoked a cigarette. Ranbou was tall, strong, and quite the asset in any sort of fight, be it with hands, guns or knives. For the most part, he kept his long dark hair in a high ponytail like his brother, Kouga, and he had the ice blue eyes to match. He led a gang called the Reikons, meaning soul, and they were mostly mercenaries if anything else. They didn't smuggle or steal, but were always available if another gang needed someone "disposed of" without too much of a scene. In their quiet way, the Reikons were the number one group of assassins in the city and no one dared cross their path.

"Ranbou," Sesshomaru greeted with a smooth nod. "Racing tonight?"

The boy just chuckled, shaking his head and leaning against Bankotsu's Spyder. "Naw, I got engine problems."

Ranbou was an experiences motorcycle racer, but his Honda CBR600 F4i motorcycle always seemed to have mechanical trouble. Between the mechanics in the Fangs, Reikons, Wildcats and Cobras, they managed to keep the old hunk of metal going. No matter what anyone told Ranbou, he wouldn't get rid of the bike.

"I don't see why ya gotta keep that piece o' shit, Ran, why dontcha just get a new one? Not like you couldn't," Kouga said confusedly, shaking his head a little at Ranbou's decision to keep the motorcycle.

Grinning, Ranbou leaned over and gave Kouga a fierce noogie. "Aw, I love the CBR!"

Kouga squirmed out of his brother's way, muttering in wolf tongue, "_Stick it up your ass, Ranbou."_

"Temper, temper, little brother," Ranbou teased in a sing song voice, taking another drag on his cigarette. After a moment of silence, he asked Sesshomaru casually, "Any word from Shitora? She comin' back soon?"

Before his brother could answer the question, Inuyasha replied, "Not if she ain't a woman yet. So, knowin' Tora, no, not any time soon."

Kouga and Ranbou were nine months apart and, most of the time, got along very well. Before the tenth grade, the Ookamis and Taishos had lived next door to one another and they'd been very close. Kouga, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Ranbou ran around causing trouble, breaking into soda machines and that sort of thing, while Shitora was sort of the tag-along little sister...that is until she punched some boy in the mouth for bad talking Inuyasha. From then on, she was considered one of the gang, with only a little bit of teasing involved. Out of all the boys, Ranbou teased her the most, trying to make her run home crying to her mother. He never did succeed, as she always retorted in true Shitora fashion with a cussword or two. In truth, the boys really did miss her.

"HEY BITCHES!"

Everyone turned to face Rin and the Wildcats as they came striding into the warehouse, a sea of white jackets in the midst of all the black. The other Wildcats hurried up to them, exchanging greetings while many boys just looked on with gaping mouths. Every time Rin and the girls got dressed up, they got their fair share of cat calls.

Ranbou suddenly let out a low whistle and Inuyasha furrowed his brow. "What?"

The Reikon leader gestured with his right hand, cigarette firmly placed between his second and third finger, towards the Wildcats core. "Check out that hot number. She's new."

Inuyasha followed Ranbou's gaze and his jaw nearly came unhinged; Kagome looked like a goddess in her tight leather pants and corset belly shirt. Her make up was sparse but her attitude simply commanded the room; she seemed more liberated than he'd ever seen her and it was turning him on.

After a moment, he realized that Ranbou was talking about Kagome and he let out an unconscious growl in the wolf's direction. "Keep yer hands off."

The others looked at the hanyou in mild surprise. Sesshomaru said quietly, "Inuyasha, have you claimed Kagome?"

Inuyasha grew very red in the face and he retorted angrily, "No, I ain't claimed her, I don't want her! I'm just lettin' wolf shit know she ain't some one night stand, okay?"

Kouga and Sesshomaru exchanged knowing glances, hiding their smiles as the girls came walking over to them. Rin jumped up on the car hood next to Sesshomaru, leaning over and giving him a brief kiss before taking the cigarette from his lips. "Hey baby," she said, taking a long drag on the smoke.

"Hey. Ready?" Sesshomaru replied with a small smile, reserved only for his girlfriend.

"Of course," Rin replied arrogantly, blowing smoke into the air.

"Sango, my love, how wonderful you look this evening," Miroku said smoothly, gliding forward to gather Sango in an unexpected hug.

Sango burned a crimson red and looked at everyone bug-eyed over her shoulder, wondering what she should do to get out of this mess. Suddenly, she felt a foreign hand on her behind and she let out a yelp, leaning back and smacking Miroku hard across the face. Everyone gave a simultaneous wince as Miroku fell to the floor, goofy smile still present on his lips. Ah, to feel Sango's bottom again.

"Pervert!" she exclaimed, taking several steps back to hide herself behind Kagome and Ayame. This left the two girls in question in full view and Kouga let out a sort of strangled sound, looking down as though embarrassed by Ayame's beauty. She was so perfect to him that no words seemed to justify her and for that, he was silent.

"Oh, Kagome, this is Ranbou, Bankotsu, Hakkaku and Ginta," Rin said, gesturing to each boy as they waved in turn.

"Nice to meet you," Kagome said in a rich voice, quite unlike her normal high pitched sniff.

"New in town?" Bankotsu asked conversationally, braid falling over his shoulder as he leaned forward on the hood of his car.

"Yeah, just came in from Kyoto yesterday," Kagome replied.

Sesshomaru stood up, stretching his muscular limbs routinely before adjusting his jacket. The others knew this was a signal for them to do the same and everyone shut the hoods of their cars, donning their own jackets before following Sesshomaru towards the center of the room. He stood up on one of the chairs from the lounge area and the other leaders followed, grabbing their own chairs and standing tall alongside the Fang leader. Rin, Bankotsu and Ranbou all crossed their arms in a sort of powerful display, looking out on the crowd with absolutely no fear.

Sesshomaru looked over at Ranbou, who nodded in return and lifted his head. He let out a fierce howl, alerting the three hundred some odd gang members in the room, and everything fell dead silent; the other gang member knew that, should they not follow orders, they would be "dispatched" of by the Reikons. And that was certainly a terrible way to go.

"Tonight," Sesshomaru began strongly, "We race the Dragons, the Sharks, the Vixens, and, most importantly, the Tarantulas." The room let out a loud sound of disapproval, hisses, boos and all sorts of nasty words at the sound of the other gangs. The competition between the North and South gangs of Tokyo was fierce and those here in the South didn't want to hear tell of the Northern scum. Sesshomaru quieted the room with one snap of his fingers, continuing, "And we expect that everyone will hold themselves with dignity. If you start a fight you aren't prepared to finish, prepare to face the consequences. If you want to bring out weapons, that's your choice. Be aware that there won't be someone on your side there at all times, so exercise caution. We all know that the North doesn't exercise mercy."

There was dead silence as everyone thought how true these words were. Rin continued. "We'll have two events, three heats per event, which means that some gangs will have more chances than others. If you have a problem with that, keep it to your damn self." There was slight laughter and Rin almost smiled, but remembered she was in severe gang leader mode. "If, for some reason, we lose, don't go startin' shit. There will be hell to pay."

"We're better than the North and we expect everyone to act like it; don't stoop to their level. If you do, you have no honor," Bankotsu said cryptically; these were perhaps the most powerful words spoken yet and everyone hung their heads a little. Everyone in that warehouse had started stupid fights before and it weighed heavily on their mind just then.

"Most importantly, watch each other's backs; you never know what the North might do," Ranbou finished, smiling confidently and setting the room at ease with his confidence.

"Follow your leaders to the race location," Sesshomaru said, leaping off the chair as the room cheered and whistled, humming with excitement.

Kagome was caught up in a whirlwind of movement as everyone tried to get to their cars and she realized that the leader's were driving to the race alone, as in, with no one else in their cars. Just before she could panic, a familiar voice called, "Ride with me, Kagome."

She turned and met eyes with Inuyasha, giving him a thankful smile. "Sure."

Sango climbed in the car with Miroku, albeit quite reluctantly, since he'd asked her in such a polite manner. "Sango, if I promise to keep my hands to myself, will you ride to the race with me?"

Sango had only blushed a little, sighing and replying, "As long as you keep both hands on the wheel."

Kouga and Ayame met up where their bikes were parked and Ayame began putting on her helmet, stopping only when Kouga said suddenly. "Ayame."

The girl turned, green eyes wide and smiling as she looked expectantly in Kouga's direction. He composed himself before asking, "Will you ride with me?"

Ayame turned a light shade of pink, flattered by the offer, and glanced down at Kouga's outstretched hand. As he looked at her just then, blue eyes twinkling and face alight with his handsome grin, Ayame couldn't help but be very attracted to him. "Sure," she all but whispered. Putting on her helmet and hopping on the bike behind Kouga.

The leaders pulled out of the warehouse first, followed then by their core, and then by the rest of the gang. By this time, the sun was setting and dark was upon them as the many impressive cars and motorcycles flooded the streets of Tokyo. Each leader took different turns along the way, so passing police might not be suspicious by the herd of vehicles, and they all arrived at a neutral zone street just past Salter.

Inuyasha parked along the rode side, as did the others, and Kagome let out a breath; this was it, her first gang race. Inuyasha grinned, killing the engine and asking, "You nervous?"

"No," Kagome replied stubbornly, looking at the accumulating amount of people with a wary eye.

"Stick with me, you'll be fine," Inuyasha reassured her rather cockily, grinning a beautiful grin.

Kagome nodded a little, allowing herself to smile before exiting the car into the warm summer air. Just as Inuyasha and Kagome found the others, near what Kagome could see was the finish line, she heard the loud rumble of a sinister engine. The rest of the gang turned and growled as several motorcycles pulled up, revving their engines ostentatiously as scores of cars followed behind them. The riders all seemed to wear smiles of equal wickedness, looking ready to raise hell and start trouble on a Saturday night. While the Southerners jeered at the North, yelling obscenities and earning sighs from their leaders, the North parked their bikes and cars in the remaining spots.

Kagome's breath caught in her throat as a group of rather tough looking characters strode towards them, dressed in an assortment of colored leather and chains. In the center, flanked on either side by the other leaders, was Naraku Onigumo. Black hair fell in course waves down his back, crimson eyes the color of the blood he spilled daily, Naraku was a fearsome sight to behold. He wore nothing but black, including his black Tarantulas jacket with their red spider symbol on the back. He crossed his arms arrogantly, flashing an evil grin in Sesshomaru's direction. The Northern leaders stopped a mere foot from the Southern leaders, both groups looking as though they could barely tolerate the others.

"Taisho," Naraku said flatly.

"Onigumo," came Sesshomaru's controlled reply. "You know the terms, then?"

"Course we know the terms," one of the other leaders replied, red eyes flashing irritatedly. He was smaller than his fellow leaders, white as snow in both face and hair; he was obviously albino and wore a black jacket with the blue Sharks symbol on the back. He was Akago Tsume, leader of the Sharks, and a powerful mind reading demon. The Sharks were a group of smugglers who bartered with other gangs in different parts of Japan. The only difference between their business and the Fangs' business was the content; the Sharks smuggled drugs. Needless to say, they were quite popular with the seedier gangs.

"In a bad mood, Akago? I've got a friend who could fix that right up," a woman at Naraku's left said richly, vibrant red lips rivaling the shade of Rin's. Kagura Kaze, a wind demon, was the leader of the Vixens, an all girl gang gathered together for one specific purpose; to provide the other Northern gangs with female companionship. Each girl of the Vixens lived only to service the Tarantulas, Sharks and Dragons with sexual favors and none of them were above the idea of having more than one partner. There wasn't a girl in the Wildcats who wouldn't willingly rip out the throat of a Vixen. Kagura, in all her stunning but tainted beauty, was on and off with Naraku as it were. They were never together for more than a week, but that didn't mean they couldn't have sex.

Rin rolled her eyes as Kagura obviously offered Akago a girl to pleasure him. "Keep it to yourself, Kagura," Rin bit; though most thought Rin incapable of hatred, Kagura certainly came close to the standard.

"She wasn't talking to you, human," barked a gruff voice from Akago's right. Ryuukoytsusei Gekido, called Ryuu for short, was tall and host to a rat's nest of long, emerald green hair, a formidable opponent when battling with his claws. He was a Dragon demon, powerful and not to be crossed, the most valuable asset of the North as far as fighting was concerned. He was the leader of the Dragons, who were known to be the most ruthless gang of murderers in the city; they would just as soon kill their own mother if only to facilitate the gang. While the Reikons killed to help their Southern friends, the Dragons killed for the fun of it.

Sesshomaru's expression darkened immediately following Ryuu's vicious words and he said lowly, "Watch yourself, Gekido. You just might find yourself in trouble with the North. More than you already are."

Despite Ryuu's confidence in battle, not even he dared tempt the wrath of Sesshomaru Taisho. Certainly, he wouldn't back down from a battle with the dog demon, but now was not the time to make his move. He had to be patient. Ryuu only snorted, crossing his arms moodily across the chest of his black Dragon's jacket, with its green dragon symbol on the back.

"Pick the first race, Onigumo, we don't care," Sesshomaru said in a rather clipped tone, stung by the hostility shown in Rin's direction.

"Car first," Naraku said through his gnarled lips. "See you on the road."

The two groups broke apart and everyone let out a simultaneous breath. Everyone knew that, with one misplaced word, the North and South could be at each other's throats.

Though Rin showed no fear on the outside, the look in Ryuu's eyes had frightened her considerably, that burning charcoal, lifeless, bottomless, ready to reach out and swallow her whole. In truth, she was more reluctant to conduct business with Ryuu than with Naraku. Something about Ryuu was just...not right. A familiar pair of leather clad arms snaked suddenly around her waist, pulling her back against an equally familiar chest. She sighed as Sesshomaru's minty scent surrounded her and eased her nerves.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll protect you," he said strongly, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

And with that he was gone, tending to gang affairs near the starting line, yet his presence still lingered; his simple words were enough to set Rin's mind at rest.

Miroku pulled on a pair of leather driving gloves as he surveyed the course, which was a straight go all the way down Medieval Avenue. He guessed that, on a straight away like this, he could bring the RX7 in at about 180 mph. He set high standards for himself and his car, of course, though he almost always met them. That was the kind of racer Miroku was, determined to win and never lose.

The first race, between a Dragon named Kagai and a Reikon named Urufu, began shortly, two high powered American muscle cars revving their engines and pouring exhaust. The Wildcats and Vixens took turns starting the races and Kagura began, Standing between both cars in her tall boots, barely there mini skirt and red lace bra. She lifted a red flag, painted with the black skull, and brought it down with a jerk, sending the two cars flying out before her. It looked as though Urufu were going to win, but Kagai pulled out near the end to win the race. While the Northerners jeered at the losers, the Southerners bit their tongues; they knew better than to disobey their leaders' orders. They wouldn't fight unless _seriously _provoked.

Next up, Bankotsu pulled his Spyder up to the starting line, saddling up beside a fat beast of a boy named Maten Mitsarugi. Maten, a member of the Sharks, was a fat, white skinned lightning demon with a jealous attitude and a wicked temper. He and his brother Hiten had never gotten along, seeing as though Hiten got all the glory and Maten was left to sink in the shadows. Hiten was a proud member of the Cobras and wouldn't trade that companionship for the world, though he sometimes wished he were closer to his brother. Manten couldn't have cared less.

"Let's see what you got, Hayashi," Maten jeered with a sadistic smile on his fat face.

Bankotsu said nothing, only tightening his grip on the wheel. He would not lose this race. Ayame walked out in the middle of the road, holding the red flag which she had so coldly retrieved from Kagura moments earlier and she raised it, winking in Bankotsu's direction. She brought it down and both cars took off, speeding towards the finish line in a blast of smoke and a roaring engine chorus.

At first, Manten tried to maneuver his Lotus coupe around Bankotsu's front, but soon discovered that Bankotsu wouldn't give in so easily. The Cobras leader pushed his car into third gear, rocketing forward and pulling ahead of the Lotus. Manten was surprised at first, but soon recovered, pushing his own car into fourth and struggling to stay even neck and neck with Bankotsu. It wasn't long before Bankotsu shifted into fifth gear, nosing ahead of Manten and coming in first at the finish line. The South gave a cheer, slapping hands with one another and trying their best not to brag in the North's direction; they still remembered their leaders' words.

Manten let out a fierce roar upon reaching the starting line once more and he all but tore the door of his car off, pushing himself outside and stomping off towards his leader.

Akago was in the middle of a discussion with his second in command, Gatenmaru, a moth demon from the Spiders, when he noticed Manten's angry approach. "Manten," he greeted, nodding his head slightly in the creature's direction.

"Goddamnit, I lost!" Manten exclaimed brokenly, kicking out at a building wall, causing the brick to crumble slightly.

Akago raised one stately white eyebrow. "That's alright, I expected you to lose."

At this, Manten's hideous eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "What! Why!"

Gatenmaru's long black hair shone as he turned his head slowly to face Manten, wicked crimson eyes reflecting the disdain he felt for the thunder demon. "Because Hayashi was a better driver in a better car."

It took a moment for Manten to register this insult, but when he finally got it, he turned on his heels and waddled angrily away, refusing to speak to anyone on his way towards the Southern clan. Akago sighed, massaging his snow white temples methodically. "Did you have to set him off, Gatenmaru? Now he'll be absolutely insufferable for the rest of the night."

Gatenmaru snorted, turning his pointed face to observe the race course. "It doesn't take much to set that buffoon off, Akago, and you know it."

Akago followed Gatenmaru's gaze and witnessed Miroku pulling his RX7 up to the starting line; he wore a determined face with nary the hint of a smile, managing to be even slightly intimidating. "Looks like your up, Gaten," Akago said casually, giving the man a gruff pat on the back as he left to enter his own car.

Over on the South side, Bankotsu was laughing and discussing his recent victory with his brothers, Hiten Mitsarugi (A/N: Sorry, I just couldn't help myself), and the Ookami brothers. As Manten approached, he could see Hiten laughing at something Bankotsu said, crimson eyes sparkling and long braid falling gracefully down his back, right over the Cobras symbol. It simply made Manten's blood boil that his wretched brother could feel any sort of happiness after his terrible loss and, without another thought, Manten raged forward and grabbed a stunned Hiten by the throat.

"Goddamned little asshole!" he screamed irately, banging Hiten back up against a building.

Hiten grunted as his head came in contact with the brick and he stifled a groan, staring down at his brother through bored eyes. "What's wrong, Manten? Lose your race?"

This only proved to further enrage Manten, who was becoming almost unstoppable in his wrath. With a distorted scream, he threw Hiten to the side and watched in satisfaction as his brother skidded on the pavement, coming to rest unmoving against an alley wall. Before the thunder demon could even turn around, however, someone punched him violently in the back of his head, sending Manten smashing against the nearby wall. As the ugly creature sunk to the concrete, unconscious for what might be several hours, Bankotsu cracked his knuckles routinely.

"What a dick," he said in his light, amused tone.

Kouga grinned, giving Bankotsu a hearty pat on the back. "Nice hit, Bank."

With that, the group hurried over to where Hiten was groaning on the pavement and surrounded him, trying to assess his injuries. Suikotsu, Bankotsu's rather strange physician brother, knelt down to observe Hiten where he lay. Like his brothers, Suikotsu had strange almost tribal markings on his face, in this case green tiger stripes.

"He's got a concussion, I think. And...his jacket's shot to hell," Suikotsu announced, rolling Hiten over to show the others his damaged jacket.

True enough, where the Cobra had once been reared, mouth open and ready to strike, there was a gaping wide gash and several impressive scratches. Jakotsu, the rather effeminate Hayashi brother, looked thoughtfully at the jacket with his wide brown eyes. The purple markings on his face accentuated his almost kind, innocent demeanor, as he observed, "We'll have to get him a new one, I guess."

Renkotsu, the resident Hayashi brain, rolled his wise black eyes plaintively; his dark purple markings tended to draw the attention away from his completely bald head, which he insisted was his personal choice. "Hiten's got a concussion and we all seem worried about the jacket. Shouldn't we be attending to the injury first?"

Ginkotsu nodded his great scarred face flatly. "Yesh," came his muffled answer. Ginkotsu had seen one too many battles, so to speak, and his face was contorted with scars and scrapes, making him look quite formidable.

Mukotsu was a short, dough ball sort of character with sickly eyes and wide mouth. The red markings on his face made him look like a sort of bloody dinner roll, yet his powers with poison made everyone respect him. He often helped the Reikons in their assassinations. "Should we take him to the hospital?" he asked rather vapidly.

Kyokotsu, a gigantic fellow with angry green eyes, crossed his huge arms across his barrel chest, replying starchly, "Good idea, Mukotsu, we'll just walk in and say, 'Sorry, doctor, this is our friend Hiten. He got in a fight with his brother during an illegitimate gang street race. It's still going on if you want to catch the end of it.'"

Ranbou shook his head a little, remarking, "Kyokotsu's right, we can't take him to the hospital. He'll be fine, he just needs to sleep it off."

Nodding a little, Bankotsu replied, "You're right, nothing to be alarmed about." Leaning down, he helped Hiten to his feet. "C'mon, bud, let's get you to the car."

As the brothers followed Bankotsu towards his car, Ranbou addressed his younger brother. "C'mon, Miroku's race is about to start."

With that, the Ookami brothers hurried towards the starting line, hoping they were in time to witness what would surely be a good win for Miroku. Little did they know that this would be a harder race than anyone anticipated.

**Now aren't you glad I didn't make that one whole chapter? I know I am. Reviews are welcome as always.**

**Thanks to all my reviewers.**

**KOLU**


	5. The Race Part II

**Hey everyone, how we doin? There was a nice rousing response to this story as soon as the fourth chapter went up and thank you so much to all my reviewers thus far, listed below, much love! I drew my own version of Ranbou and attached it to the story, so you can go take a look. Shitora will now be arriving in chapter 8 because I had to split up what would've been chapter 4; sorry, but all the more description to be made. **

**Kinuski-Chan- By the way, I started working on a new chapter of Mild Interruption just for you! Expect it in one or two days! **

**Lil Kags**

**Princess in Training**

**Blackrosevampire15**

**NICELY DONE**

**Darksaint**

**Princess Angel**

**Cold Kikyo**

**Kay**

**My Sinful Deed**

**Belovedlight**

**Yoshiko Furu**

**Disclaimer: Simply, I don't own Inuyasha. Which really throws a wrench in my pistons, if you know what I mean. **

Miroku took a deep breath, savoring the smell of gasoline and exhaust; this was his niche. With a sigh, he leaned back against his car, waiting for Gatenmaru to arrive at the starting line, wondering if the moth demon had any new tricks up his sleeve. Gatenmaru was known to be an excellent racer, of course Miroku could easily take him on. A familiar face caught his eye and Miroku turned, smiling at Sango as she walked towards him.

"Are you ready?" she asked, smiling a little.

The boy shrugged. "I couldn't say. I never know if I was ready until I've finished the race."

Sango laughed, a sound like music to Miroku's ears, and she replied cheerfully, "Well, I think your ready."

"That means a lot to me Sango. I couldn't have done it without you," Miroku replied with that familiar glint in his eyes, that one which held Sango's rapt attention. Her breath caught in her throat and she might've remained there had Gatenmaru not pulled up to the line in his Eclipse.

The moth demon exited the car, glaring wickedly at Miroku. "Ready to lose, Houshi?" he asked, his slightly aristocratic drawl bringing a frown to Miroku's face.

"We'll see," the boy said simply, giving Sango one last parting glance before ducking back into the driver's seat. Despite his own confidence in his skills, Miroku couldn't help but be slightly wary of the upcoming race. Gatenmaru was a formidable opponent.

Inuyaha suddenly appeared at the window, leaning in slightly to get a better look at his best friend's face. "Doin' alright, Roku?" he asked, excitement evident in his eyes.

Nodding slightly, Miroku replied, "Always." When he said nothing more, Inuyasha patted him gruffly on the shoulder and turned on his heels, returning to the sidelines and standing beside his brother.

Akago's little sister Kanna, a likewise eery looking albino with lifeless eyes, walked dully to the road between the two cars, holding the red flag in her pale hands. Gatenmaru stole a glance at Miroku before they began, grinning sadistically; if he only could, the moth demon would wipe the road with Miroku's remains, not to mention the scrap metal of his car. When Gatenmaru fought against an opponent, he felt the need to dispose of their very last pieces without a single regard for their pain. He, like his gang brethren, was cruel and merciless.

Kanna glanced at each driver, satisfied with their nods of approval, and she raised the flag, bringing it down with a flapping jerk. Miroku floored the gas pedal and the RX7 squealed on its tires, burning rubber off the starting line and pulling just ahead of Gatenmaru. At first, Miroku felt almost afraid of his car's power, if not for a split second, before he narrowed his eyes in a determined fashion and tightened his grip on the wheel. A glance in Gatenmaru's direction proved that the moth demon was slightly startled by Miroku's aggressive driving and Miroku nodded grimly; good.

They arrive at the five second mark, with only five seconds remaining in their ten second stretch of highway, and Gatenmaru growled angrily; that damnable Houshi was almost a wheel's length ahead of him now and something had to be done. Jerking sideways on the wheel, Gatenmaru sent his car against the side of the RX7, relishing in the sound of metal grating upon metal. Miroku, stunned by the bold move, gritted his teeth and watched the moth demon out of the corner of his eye. Frustrated by his opponent's blatant ignore of his driving techniques, Gatenmaru prepared to bump Miroku once more, but the Fang driver saw him coming.

As Gatenmaru jerked sideways on the wheel, quite viciously at that, Miroku depressed the brake, falling about a cars length behind the Eclipse. Gatenmaru's breath caught in his throat for just a moment as he saw the building approaching through his windshield, yet he had not even time to scream. The impact was incredible, crunching the entire hood like an accordian, as the Eclipse met the building wall, a terrible explosion of sound. Miroku hit the gas once more, rocketing over the finish line, victorious.

Gatenmaru gave a shout of rage, throwing open his driver's side door and crawling his way out of the car's wreckage. His angry crimson eyes caught the streetlight as he made several ferocious gestures in Miroku's direction. Miroku, in turn, didn't even bother stopping on his returning voyage to the starting line and, as soon as he arrived, the car was surrounded by ecstatic Southerners.

Inuyasha ran up to Miroku, slapping hands happily with his best friend while exclaiming, "Fucking wicked, Roku! That move was awesome!"

Sesshomaru was right behind Inuyasha and he, too congratulated Miroku on the impressive win. "That's your driver's intuition, I think Miroku."

But this praise could've meant nothing, had Sango not arrived just on time to agree. She threw her arms around Miroku in all her happiness, screaming shrilly, "You did it! You did it!"

Miroku returned Sango's hug gratefully, looking down at her bottom from his head's perch on her shoulder. Ah, that familiar hump. Without a second thought, his hands squeezed around Sango's cheeks and she grew increidbly red in the face. Despite Miroku's recent victory, she wouldn't take his groping and she smacked him hard across the face, stomping off in the other direction. She'd never been so insulted in all her life; there she was, trying to congratulate him in his win, and he had to grope her in front of everyone! The nerve!

Sighing slightly, Miroku turned and accepted compliments from a few other Southerners before driving his car back towards the general parking. Without a lull in the action, the motorcycle races began. Now, despite the apparent interest in car racing, the motorcycle races were the hightlight of the evening. With the car racing, there was an entire frame between the driver and the road. With the motorcycle races, there was nothing but heavy breathing and prayers.

First up was a Reikon named Tachi and a rather burly looking Dragon, both riding on street model Yamahas. The race was quick and sweet, with the Dragon managing to pull ahead of Tachi for a last second win. There was a brief lull in the action as the two motorcyclists pulled back up to the starting line, the Reikon looking thoroughly discomfoted by his loss. The other gangs milled about, waiting for the next race, but little did they know: one of the scheduled racers was sleeping off a concussion in the back of Bankotsu's car.

Rin pushed her way through the crowd, looking frantically around for Hiten. No one recalled seeing him during the last race, which was strange; normally he was a very social and amiable character. Shifting her eyes anxiously back and forth, Rin saw absolutely no sign of the boy. Finally, she saw Bankotsu talking with Jakotsu, beer bottles in hand as they discussed the last race.

"Bank!" she called.

The boy looked up, nodding slightly. "Hey Rin, having fun?"

The girl shook her head violently, replying, "I can't find Hiten and he's supposed to be on the line _now_!"

At these words, Bankotsu and Jakotsu exchanged dreading glances; they hadn't even thought of that little detail. Turning back to Rin with a placating smile, Jakotsu began slowly, "Actually, Rin, Manten kind of knocked Hiten out ten minutes ago and...he hasn't exactly woken up yet, so..."

"WHAT!" Rin practically screamed, nearly pulling out her hair in frustration.

The brothers cringed slightly as her anger washed over them in turbulent waves, sending chills down their spines. They didn't even have time to apology, as Rin turned on her heels and wandered aimlessly around the crowd, muttering feverishly, "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do..." It was then that she caught sight of a familiar face, tuning up Kouga's motorcycle as he watched from his perch on the hood of Inuyasha's red Toyota Supra.

"Ayame!" Rin screamed out, practically bubbling over with relief as she saw her dear friend standing there, eyebrows raised curiously.

"Rin..." Ayame replied tentatively in return, crossing her arms in a sort of expectant gesture.

Putting on her most convincing smile, Rin saddled up beside her friend, ignoring Kouga's very existence as he observed the scene. "Well, Hiten was supposed to race this race, but...he's kind of unconcious."

Ayame's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she regarded Rin with disbelief, but her leader cut her off before she could get a word in edgewise. "Now don't freak out, but we need you to race. Please."

The redhead's breath caught in her throat as she digested these words and, for a moment, she thought Rin was joking. Only when their opponent was female did the others allow the Wildcats to race, but never against the males. The gang leaders, outnumbered Rin in deciding that the races were too dangerous for girls to participate in when another boy was involved and these rules were at least two years old. Ayame hadn't raced since the rules were put in place.

Before she could think her answer through, Ayame found herself saying, "I'll do it."

Kouga began to protest this decision, but Rin quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and said brightly, "Great! Get your ass to the starting line."

Rin grabbed Ayame by the arm and began tugging her forcefully towards the starting line; as she stumbled away, Ayame managed to meet eyes briefly with Kouga, nodding with an excited smile in his direction. She was making history with this race! Kouga's eyes, however, reflected none of her happiness; they only exhibited fear.

Rin and Ayame arrived at the starting line just before the Northerners claimed forfeit victory and Rin pushed her friend forward. "Here's our racer," she proclaimed proudly.

Everyone craned their necks to see Hiten, but were surprised when they found Rin gesturing to Ayame Lang. There was a brief moment of silence, during which the crowd wondered whether Rin was joking, and finally the majority of the onlookers burst out laughing. The seriousness on Rin's face had simply set them over the edge and they fell about the street, slapping their knees in all their hilarity; a girl? A girl race a Shark boy during a race? How funny was that?

At this point, Bankotsu came to the starting line, rolling Hiten's motorcycle with him, wondering who Rin had found to take Hiten's place. When he saw Ayame waiting there expectantly, he glanced around, looking for any sort of _male _racer. When he found none, he returned his wide eyes to Ayame, who gently took the handlebars from his grasp, thanking him quietly. Ayame was determined to ignore the jeering crowd as she put on her visored helmet; she would show them just what sort of woman she was. For the first time, the girl looked sideways to assess her opponent and groaned; it was Irigaru.

Irigaru was a panther demon with sinister yellow eyes and slick black hair, known for his cheap shots on the race track. He had little skill, but more than made up for his lacking skill level with his ridiculous cheating habits. He'd sent at least four racers to the hospital and was consequently banned from the races for certain periods of time. Though the North never argued with the Souths sentences, they grinned and waited for the next time Irigaru could race; they loved the bloodshed. Irigaru had just come back from his latest ban and was ready for a reunion race. A dirty reunion race.

As soon as Rin turned around, she was bombarded by her fellow leaders, all of whom looked furious. Ranou threw his arms akimbo, screaming, "What were you fucking thinking, Rin!"

"Ayame? Racing Irigaru? You might as well just send her to the guillotine!" Bankotsu agreed.

Sesshomaru, unlike his two friends, was not volatile or loud when angry; he was strangely quiet. "Rin," he barely whispered. The girl turned slowly to meet his gaze, apprehension shining through her strong facade. "Why did you not consult us first?" Sesshomaru continued, amber eyes locked on his girlfriend's brown ones.

The girl blinked, suddenly adopting a rather irritated posture. "Because you would've said no! Look, Ayame's one of the best racers out here, male or female, and you all know it. By only allowing her to compete against the Vixens, you're stifling her chance to improve! I mean, which one of the Vixens can even hike their skirt up high enough to get on the damn bike! I will not have my Wildcat shoved back in the shadows fixing all of _your _fucking bikes! She deserved some fucking credit!"

With each word she spoke, Rin grew more confident in her own anger and soon she was moving forward, gesturing wildly as the three male leaders exchanged slightly frightened glances. It was said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Rin proved this statement true. Bankotsu, Sesshomaru and Ranbou had witness countless gang fights, rapes and murders, but the sight of Rin's furious face ranked up top with the five most terrifying sights of their lives.

Sesshomaru, almost used to his girlfriend's temper, regained control first. After remasking his expression, he crossed his arms and stared Rin down. "Can't you prove your feminist point some other time? When the opponent isn't Irigaru?"

"Ugh, don't you see! That's the freaking point, Sesshomaru! God!" Rin exclaimed with a passionate sigh, turning on her heels and massaging her temples. With that, she strutted angrily towards the crowd, which parted generously to let the wrathful woman through.

Ranbou and Bankotsu exchanged glances behind Sesshomaru's back, laughing slightly at their friend's misfortune; he was in the dog house now.

Over on the sidelines, Kagome and Inuyasha were commenting on the races, enjoying each others company and, dare they admit it, having fun. When Kagome saw Ayame ready herself at the starting line, she mused quietly, "I didn't know Ayame was racing tonight."

Inuyasha followed Kagome's gaze, mouth dropping slightly. "That's cause she wasn't...but I guess she is now," he murmured finally. "That's really weird."

"What?" Kagome asked confusedly; in her opinion, a last minute driver change was nothing odd.

But Inuyasha just shook his head. "Girls aren't allowed to race boys, especially not in the cycle races. We just don't do it."

This shocked Kagome. "Why not?" she asked indignantly.

Inuyasha merely shrugged. "Because it's dangerous and we want the girl's safe. The motorcycle races tend to get a little rowdy and this guy is definitely gonna start something." Kagome looked to where Inuyasha was pointing, taking in the sight of Ayame's opponent. "That's Irigaru Shin, the cheating, lying bastard of the Sharks. He's a mean sonofabitch; I'm surprised they're letting Aya race this one, considering its against all the rules _and _against Irigaru."

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know..."

The crowd muttered their opinions in a sort of mutinous hum, wondering what would come of this strange change in the program. Ranbou, Bankotsu and Sesshomaru just stood sternly at the crowd's head, pretending as though they couldn't hear the gang members murmuring obscenities; a girl, racing? What were the leaders thinking!

Kouga pushed people this way and that as he struggled through the crowd, finally coming to stop in front of the leaders. "What the fuck!" he all but roared, addressing his brother, leader and friend with an air of anxious disbelief.

Ranbou sighed, beginning peaceably, "Ko, we know it's against the rules, but Ri-"

"I don't care about the fucking rules! She could be killed, Ranbou!" Kouga interjected angrily, gesturing wildly towards the road.

Sesshomaru placed a pacifying hand on his best friend's shoulder, turning him gently around towards the starting line. "Kouga, have a little faith. Let's just see what happens."

The more Ayame readied herself at the starting line, the more confident she became; she'd watched all four of Irigaru's cheating races and she knew all his tricks from observation. Unlike the headstrong male riders, she knew how to read her opponent and did so with careful precision; she wasn't about to let this race slip through her fingers. Not after she'd waited for so long.

Kaguya strode out between the cyclists holding the red flag and she raised it, meeting eyes with both riders. Everyone held their breath as she raised the flag, letting it out with woosh as she lowered it swiftly. Ayame gunned the throttle and took off like a bullet from the starting line, pulling up neck and neck with Irigaru in the first second. She lowered herself over the handlebars, staring through wide and focused eyes at the road ahead of her. In her periferal vision, she could see Irigaru drifting towards her right side, coming dangerously close to touching. He was making his first attempt.

With a jerk, Ayame swerved out of Irigaru's way, just as he swung his arm out to the side, hoping to knock her off her motorcycle. The Southern spectators gasped and yelled obscenities, while the North just gave disappointed moan; they were sad to see him miss. Ayame ticked off the seconds in her head; they had five left. Glancing down at her speedometer, a rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins: 175, 176, 177...

It was then that Irigaru, irritated by his initial miss, decided to try again. Once more, his motorcycle began drifting in Ayame's direction, wheel's nearly touching as he prepared to make his second move. Ayame could see his arm tensing, preparing to strike, and she made a split second decision.

As Irigari swung out his arm, Ayame threw her right arm out to meet his and they clashed. Ayame was prepared for the hit, yet Irigaru hadn't expected any sort of retaliation; he'd never received any before, and he certainly wasn't looking for aggression from this _girl. _Irigaru's face broke into a frightened frown as he felt himself swerving off balance and he had to shift to the side, just to prevent himself from falling; this was the only opening Ayame needed.

In that one remaining second, Ayame rocketed forward and pulled ahead of Irigaru, crossing the finish line mere milliseconds before him. Ginta, who was currently on finish-line duty, held up his left arm to denote the left hand rider's victory; Ayame had won.

The South broke out in the loudest cheer yet, fueled by Ayame's female victory and her impressive moves on the road. While Irigaru hadn't expected retaliation, the crowd certainly hadn't and was thoroughly enflamed by this show of feminine strength. Ayame rode quickly back to the starting line, only to be engulfed in someone's waiting arms. Kouga's familiar scent entered her keen wolf nose and she felt her heartbeat slowing; she felt so safe in his embrace.

"God damnit, you scared the shit out of me," he whispered in her ear, holding her closer still. "But you were amazing."

Ayame beamed with pride as Kouga's praised caressed her ears; if nothing else, it made the victory worthwhile to hear him say that.

Practically the entire Wildcats gang suddenly surrounded Ayame, pushing Kouga out of the way as the girls squealed and yelled their triumphant warcries. This win was quite an event for the girls, as they'd never approved of that ridiculous "same-sex race" rule, and their own Ayame had broken the stupid tradition. Rin, especially, was excited and threw her arms around Ayame, leaping up and down while screaming raucously.

It took practically half the remaining gangs to clear the Wildcats from the starting line as the chastened males tried to set up the next race without admitting their embarrassment. Kouga returned his focus to his own race and put on his helmet, cracking his knuckles routinely; he lived for the race and it was mere minutes away. He glanced to the side as Kuranosuke Takeda pulled up to line, face emotionless and mouth closed as always; Kuranosuke was known as the Silent Prince for, truly, he never spoke. Everyone could only assume he was wicked hearted, for his involvement in the Spyders was quite enough evidence to convince any Southerner and most Northerners. He was almost uncatchable on his modified Kawasaki ZX-10, but Kouga was determined to beat him; his honor and that of his gang was at stake.

The Vixen's second in command, a painted up girl named Yura, strutted out to raise the flag, dressed in a strapless leather dress which rose up to show some of her ass; the men from the North drooled as part of her black lace thong showed while the men from the South just gagged. Frankly, they found it disgusting. Yura smirked at both crowd reactions, raising the red flag in her pale hand before brining it crashing down to her knees.

Kouga and Kuranosuke sped like bullets from the line, immediately powering up to 120 mph to begin their steady climb. Unlike the other races, Kouga knew this would come down to who's motorcycle was faster and he only took a steady breath, which seemed strangely loud in his helmet; he only hoped Ayame's modifications had done the job.

Kuranosuke put on a sudden burst of speed, pulling ahead of Kouga's bike, but the wolf demon wasn't at his limit yet. While saying silent prayers to the Buddha, Kouga gunned the throttle as far as it would go, lurching forward as the bike accelerated to its end. 178, 179, 180, 181, the motorcycle continued going faster as Kouga urged it forwards, ignoring his opponent's impassive face. The scenery sped by, a mere blur of color and noiselessness; the only sound to be heard was that of the motorcycles, healthy roars and screams as the engines pumped away.

Kouga leaned forward on the bike, sweat dripping down his face inside his helmet as he felt heat exploding inside of him; one more inch, just one more inch. Ayame's face flashed briefly through his mind and Kouga practically threw the bike forward, nosing just ahead of Kuranosuke as they crossed the finish line; he'd done it, all thanks to her.

Ryuukoytsusei, by this time, was thoroughly fed up by the North's abominable losses and decided he would make a stand. Walking through the crowd earlier, he'd seen Kouga and Ayame working on the bike together and, suddenly, the Dragon demon had a seemingly brilliant idea.

As Kouga pulled back up to the starting line, Ryuu stepped forth from the crowd, jeering, "Hey, wolf shit, you always give your bike over to women? You can't even turn on the damn thing by yourself, they just gotta turn you loose and set you off!"

The North began to thrum with excitement as Ryuu started trouble, which they'd been waiting for all night long. Fueled by his friends' encouragement, Ryuu called out once more, "Your little mechanic girlfriend showed you up; she won by almost half a tit, which is pretty wide, seeing as though that slut's a motherfuckin' DD!"

The North let out a loud sound of approval as Kouga narrowed his eyes angrily, barring his fangs in a frightening display. "You sonofabitch!" he screamed irately, jumping off the motorcycle and flying towards Ryuu at the speed of light. Kouga had always been fast, but this was by far the swiftest he'd ever gone; he appeared before Ryuu in less than a second, suddenly upon the Dragon demon from all side, punching, biting, and scrapping.

Sesshomaru let out a curse, muttering something obscene about Kouga's short fuse, and hurried forward to break apart the fight, trying to ignore the growing shouts of both the North and South sides. He managed to pry Kouga off of Ryuu, who staggered backwards, mildly stunned by the wolf's ferocity. Ryuu was certainly a formidable warrior, but Kouga was enraged by his shot at Ayame and could barely be contained; never before had even Ranbou seen the youngest Ookami brother so angry.

Holding tight to Kouga's arm, Sesshomaru said dangerously, "Kouga, get a hold of yourse-"

But before he could even finish the warning, Kouga broke free of the leader's grasp and lunged forward once more towards Ryuu, who was trying unsuccessfully to pop his jaw back in place; the Dragon didn't even see Kouga coming. Kouga landed what some still swear was the most devestating punch in Fang history, a blow which sent Ryuu literally flying backwards off his feet. The Dragon demon landed with a sicking thud on the concrete just short of the crowd's edge, unconcious for what would surely be several hours.

Sesshomaru hurried forward and grabbed Kouga viciously by the arm, dragging him backwards as the wolf demon calmed his heavy breathing. The Fang's leader tossed Kouga bodily into the Southern crowd, shooting him a terrifying warning glance before jerking his head towards his fellow leaders. Bankotsu, Ranbou and a tight-lipped Rin stepped forward, standing even with Sesshomaru as Naraku, Kagura and Akago met them in the center; Ryuu's absence was painfully obvious in that moment and the air was tense with hatred and resentment.

"It appears you've won," Naraku said quietly, observing Sesshomaru through simmering crimson eyes.

Regarding his enemy smoothly, Sesshoomaru replied in kind, "It appears we have."

The leaders were about to part ways when Naraku seemed to suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, Taisho."

Sesshomaru turned slowly to meet eyes with the loathsome Spider leader and regarded the man expectantly. Finally, after observing Sesshomaru with a smug look of odd satisfaction on his face, Naraku said with a hint of humor, "I look forward to seeing you at the next territory meeting. I'm sure you'll find a few of my suggestions to your...liking."

And with this cryptic warning, Naraku turned his back on Sesshomaru and waved to the North crowd, gesturing for them to return to their cars and leave the racing area. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes momentarily before walking with his fellow leaders into the Southern crowd, which was churning with excitement. Not only had they won the race, but they'd witnessed a good fight as well. If you could hardly consider it a fight, that is; Ryuu never did get a punch in.

The lesser gang members began to vacate the area while the core groups lingered behind, discussing the race in hushed tones. While the others seemed excited by the race, the Cores couldn't help but be slightly worried; with Kouga's fight and Naraku's threat weighing heavy on their minds, they dreaded what might be in store for the South in the near future.

Kouga was just putting on his helmet to leave when someone put their hand on his shoulder. He turned slightly, seeing his brother Ranbou standing stiffly there, face quite serious in the moonlight.

"Kouga, that was really stupid," he said honestly.

The youngest Ookami brother only rolled his eyes, preparing to ride off despite his brother's comment. Before he could do this, however, Sesshomaru was upon him.

"Kouga, what the fuck were you thinking?" the Fang leader asked angrily, amber eyes turning a threatning pink color as they progressed slowly towards red; everyone knew that, should Sesshomaru or Inuyasha's eyes go red, one should seek shelter in a sturdy building. This color change never meant anything good.

"Oh, c'mon Sesh, you heard what the bastard said about Ayame! I couldn't let that go!" Kouga protested, seeming more desperate to prove his point than anything.

"You've got to learn to control your temper," Sessshomaru insisted, still unconvinced.

Kouga rolled his eyes viciously. "Please, if anyone said that shit about Rin, you would've ripped out their fucking intestines and you know it!"

The fierce dog demon was silent for a moment as he realized there was no way to commmon-sensically dispute this point; eventually, Sesshomaru just narrowed his eyes and proclaimed stiffly, "Pull something like that again, and you'll be the ones without your intestines." The leader had spoken. With this, he turned on his heels and strode towards his car, silver hair undulating back and forth like a clock pendulum.

Ayame walked slowly up to Kouga, tapping him on the shoulder. "Um, Kouga?"

He turned his head so quickly that his neck snapped and, while nursing his aching neck, Kouga asked breathlessly, "Yeah?"

Ayame blushed a little, glancing down at her feet. "Thanks for...defending my honor and...well, you know..." she trailed off, feeling as though she could never truly express her gratitude.

Smiling slightly, Kouga replied, "Anytime."

The gang members began to slowly dissipate until the street was empty, no signs of gang activity present except for the spray painted finishline and a few empty beer bottles. The South had soundly defeated the North and were ready for a good night's sleep, never knowing what the next morning might bring. So was life in the day of a gang member.

**Wow, this chapter took me a good three hours to write, but I damned proud of it, lol. I felt as though I started running out of words for "angry," though. I didn't think to pull out a thesaurus, because I'm resourceful like that and everything, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't too bad. Repeating words is one of my number one pet peeves with writing, unless its parallel structure or something intentional like that. Reviews are welcome, as always.**

**KOLU**


	6. Territory

**Yay, another chapter going up. I've gotten a lot of reviews, for which I thank you all, and get ready for an influx of writing; during school, I write quite a bit, seeing as though classes are so boring. This is an important chapter cause it basically sets up the conflict in the story, so beware! Conflict, oooooh!**

**Thanks to my reviewers thus far:**

**Burningcherry55**

**Lovely Winds' Lovely Seas**

**Yoshiko Furu**

**Cold Kikyo**

**Bobalina**

**My Sinful Deed**

**BelovedLight**

**Kay**

**Kinuski-Chan**

**Lil Kags**

**Blackrosevampire 15, much thanks here**

**Princess in Training**

**Princess Angel**

**Darksaint**

**NICELY DONE**

**much thanks guys.**

_Dear Shitora,_

_I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but things have been hectic where the Fangs are concerned. Since our big race three days ago, the garage has been a mess of activity. Kouga says he's not satisfied with his win against Kuranosuke, which was mildly impressive, and insists his bike can go faster. While I seriously doubt that, there's no point in trying to stop him; he's stubborn when it comes to things like this. Inuyasha abstained from racing the other night, which I encouraged him to do; he's still at work on the Diablo and I wouldn't put him out for a test run against Gatenmaru, of all people. If possible, the North has gotten even more incorrigible than when you left. I heard just yesterday of a body found on Crimpley Avenue in neutral territory and, through my connections, I've found that it was most likely Ryuukoytsusei's doing. Speaking of Ryuu, did I tell you Kouga punched him in the face on race night? Ryuu decided to make some rude remark about Ayame's racing and got laid out unconscious for his trouble. That's another thing; Ayame raced the other night in place of Hiten. She won, an impressive win in my book, against Irigaru, the bastard. She actually pushed him back; I know you would've liked to see this race, Tora, and I'm sorry you weren't there. Hopefully, father will bring you home soon. I know you can't possibly be having fun in that ridiculous town. Tomorrow is the territory meeting, the second Tuesday of each month as you know. Naraku claimed he was going to bring something nasty up at this meeting and, frankly, I'd rather not go. But, all in the line of duty. _

_Love, Sesshomaru_

Rin rushed about the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast from the toaster and burning her nimble hands. She wore black leather pants and a black singlet, appropriately dressed for the territory meeting. Earlier that morning, she'd slung her Wildcats jacket across the back of a chair and it remained there now, directly in her path to the door. Kagome sat boredly at the counter, watching her cousin run frantically back and forth while muttering her duties at the territory meeting.

"..and then I stand up and say, 'Rin Takeyama, leader of the Wildcats, 2002-2006,' then Ayame stands and says, 'Ayame Saitou, second in command of the Wildcats, 2002-2006,' and then I read off our deference sheet like this, " Rin picked up a piece of paper from the counter, reading it aloud as she munched on the toast. "'The Wildcats defer to the Fangs for territory information, shared in part since 1996.' And then I sit down and let Sesshy handle all the important stuff."

With a sigh, Kagome rested her cheek in her palm and observed Rin through half hooded brown eyes. "Where exactly is this meeting again?"

"The Yellow Warehouse district, number 16. If you need something you'll have to call Inuyasha; Miroku and Sango are off in Tai-Fujishu getting parts from our provider, so he'll be the only one around town," Rin replied dismissively, glancing at her watch and hurrying to put on her jacket. "I've gotta go, babe, Inuyasha's number is on the counter, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

With that, Rin grabbed a piece of toast and held it in her mouth, waving goodbye to Kagome as she grabbed her purse and hurried out the door. Kagome sat still for a moment before blinking and hurrying after her cousin. The girl tripped on a chair on the way out and, holding her injured shin comically, she through open the door and kitchen door and shouted, "Wait!" but Rin's Mercedes was already heading out the gate. "I don't have a car..." Kagome mumbled dejectedly.

Kagome hobbled back inside, rubbing life back into her leg before sighing and plopping down at the kitchen counter; this was going to be a boring day. After a moment, she mumbled, "Maybe I'll just call Inuyasha." She stood and walked over to the cordless phone, glancing at the counter in hopes of finding his number. All she found were several stacks of paper.

With an irritated noise, Kagome began sifting through papers in what she hoped was the correct pile, laying her hands on old bills and junk mail advertisements. She'd just come across a series of numbers which could've very well belonged Inuyasha's phone when another piece of paper caught her eye; its header read, "The Totosai Mori Memorial Psychiatric Clinic."

Kagome glanced nervously about, as though expecting someone to discover her reading Rin's private mail, but her curiosity bested her and Kagome picked up the letter, examining it further. It listed a few bills Rin was obviously expected to pay, along with a verbatim paragraph congratulating a family member for doing the right thing and admitting a loved one. Kagome's glanced towards the paper's footer, noting the contact information and visiting hours: 10-9, Monday through Saturday, 12-6 on Sundays. After looking up at the kitchen clock and staring momentarily at the address, Kagome made a split second decision and hurried upstairs to grab her purse; she had a visit to make.

The day was warm and inviting as Kagome hurried down the street, entering the busier part of Tokyo within mere blocks of Rin's house. Glancing around at the scores of wealthy bankers and hurried lawyers, she stuck out a hand and hailed a taxi. A scrubby yellow taxi soon pulled up to curve before her, allowing Kagome to slide inside and say, "1432, Mulberry Avenue, please."

The rather dark looking cab driver gave a curt nod, speeding off at a reckless pace towards the specified address. Kagome was forced to grab hold of whatever was near just to keep herself inside the cab, but she let out a breath of relief as the cab came to a jolting stop in front of a severe white building. She paid the man his ridiculous fee, stepping slowly out of the vehicle with her eyes trained on the building's polished doors. The cab screeched off in another direction, leaving Kagome staring up at the psyche hospital with a slightly open mouth; it was quite formidable looking.

The minute she stepped through the doors, the smell of rubbing alcohol and new wood entered her nose, mixing with the hospital's anxious air. She could almost hear the invalids' silent screams, begging to be released, scratching at the walls with bleeding fingers. Shrugging away the thoughts, Kagome walked boldly up to the front counter.

"Um, excuse me," she said tentatively, addressing the woman behind the desk.

The nurse looked up from her work at the computer, smiling tightly. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to see Kikyo Wattanabe," Kagome replied, watching intently as the nurse typed something on the computer.

She watched the screen for a moment, reading the selected information before pointing down a hall to the right. "Room 214."

"Thanks," Kagome said, turning and quickly retreating from the counter; she didn't like the woman's edgy tone or cold demeanor. Perhaps it simply came with spending day after day surrounded by emotionally crippled patients. Or maybe it came with the stilting pay check.

The doors were a light green and created a prison effect as Kagome hurried down the hall, eager to be away from the eerie e presence of the hall. Nurses hurried to and fro, attending to sobbing patients and speaking in clipped tongues, all dressed in matching white uniforms. Apart from the doors, everything in the clinic seemed the white shade of fresh milk, yet Kagome felt no warmth from it, as though it were meant to be a place of transition and not of recuperation. As though the patients were not expected to recover here.

Finally, Kagome came to room 214 and knocked, listening for any sort of movement inside. After a moment, a calm voice called, "Come in." Kagome entered with bated breath.

Inside, there was a single bed, a dresser and a solitary window looking out on the street below. Kagome thought it was almost cruel to put a window there, as though taunting the invalid with the thought of outside life, but she stayed entirely focused on a pair of vibrant chocolate eyes. Kikyo was truly as beautiful as everyone said. Her dark hair hung freely about her, unrestrained and wild, framing a perfect porcelain face and pouty red lips. She observed Kagome with her head cocked to the side, resembling a quizzical dog, before she finally spoke.

"Do I know you?" she asked, not rudely but almost curiously.

Kagome blushed a little, holding her purse tightly. "Um, no, I'm Rin's cousin, Kagome Higurashi. Sorry to drop in like this without warning, I just...the others are at a territory meeting and I wanted to...I, um..." Kagome suddenly lost the nerve which had so carried her through the clinic's halls and she finished lamely, "Actually, I'm not sure why I came...I just...felt like I needed to."

There was a brief silence as Kikyo continued regarding Kagome with an almost fascinated glance and, finally, she patted the bed next to her, pulling her legs up to sit cross legged in her plain white gown. "Sit," she said, not forcefully, but as a sort of invitation.

Kagome paused momentarily before slipping off her sandals and joining Kikyo on the bed, sitting cross legged across from her. Finally, after staring at Kagome for almost an entire minute, Kikyo said, "We look like twins. Did you know?"

Slightly taken aback, Kagome replied, "Er, no, I guess I hadn't thought about it." After studying Kikyo's face for a moment, she said quietly, "We do look alike, don't we?"

Kikyo nodded a little, saying brightly, "Just our luck, cursed by perfect boobs and big butts."

It took her a moment before Kagome couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I guess you could call that a curse."

Drawing her knees up to her chest, Kikyo rested her chin between them and raised an eyebrow. "Then you agree? You think you have perfect boobs and a big butt?"

Kagome blinked, not quite knowing what to say in return; when Kikyo threw back her head and laughed at the girl's confused reaction, Kagome blushed once more and sighed. She was so naive, she even surprised herself sometimes. When Kikyo had finally composed herself, she asked a loaded question.

"So, you know about the territory meeting; then you've met everyone?"

After mulling over the question, Kagome finally replied, "If you mean all the people in the gangs, then yeah, I met quite a few of them."

Kikyo nodded a little, as though she'd expected this, and she replied quite suddenly. "They're all good people, even if they're part of a gang. Well, except for the Northerners; I can't say much for them. But everyone in the South has a good heart. Don't judge them by the fact that they're part of a gang alone. I can tell the whole idea of a gang kind of freaks you out."

The fact that Kikyo could realize this after barely thirty words stunned Kagome, who automatically felt ashamed of her apprehension towards the gangs. It wasn't as though they'd done anything wrong towards her, but she knew from the news that gangs sometimes caused irreversible damage to other peoples' lives. Killing, stealing, raping, gangs were said to do it all. Yet, after her four days with the Fangs and Wildcats, she knew them to do none of this. So why did she still fear them?

Kikyo let out a stream of breath, uncurling her arms and leaning back on her hands. "You know, Kagome, you're really like an open book. I can read you plain as day."

Almost offended, Kagome replied in an outraged tone, "Hey!"

This only provoked a chuckle from Kikyo, who never removed her gaze from the ceiling. "If you want to be a Wildcat, you can't let your emotions hang out like that. The only thing hanging out oughta be your tits."

Kagome snorted, crossing her arms. "Who said I wanted to be a Wildcat?"

In truth, Rin had never let on that Kagome might become a Wildcat. She'd just dressed up in leather and accompanied the others to the Race. In the days following it, she'd hung out with everyone in the warehouse and helped Inuyasha work on his car; it weren't as though she'd tried to weasel her way into the gang. She didn't have a jacket and obviously didn't have everyone's trust yet. It took time to earn trust from a gang, she supposed. Still, she couldn't say it didn't hurt her.

"Don't lie to me, I know when people are lying," Kikyo said simply. Her voice was the dark, rich timbre of wine or mahogany. It was soothing, yet goaded Kagome all the same.

"I'm not lying!" Kagome exclaimed, becoming frustrated. "If they don't want me, then fine! It's their call!"

The truth was out and Kagome hadn't even mean to say it; something about Kikyo persuaded her to tell the raw, skinned truth and nothing but it. It made Kagome feel so exposed, yet so alive to tell someone the god's honest truth for once. It seemed people were always dancing around the real meat of life without actually touching on it; with Kikyo, you struck the heart of every word and no mistake.

"Ah," Kikyo murmured softly. "So you really _do _want to be a Wildcat. Well, there's no secrets to that. Prove yourself and they'll hand you your white jacket on a plate. But not before."

Kagome looked over at the wall, focusing on a single spot of crisp white wallpaper. "Whatever. It's not like I'm cut out for gangs anyway. I'm the good girl, Kagome the priss, Kagome the goody two shoes. I don't stand a chance with the Wildcats and I know it. They can dress me up in leather, but inside I'm still a pink Abercrombie mess."

Kikyo studied the girl for a moment, taking in her hunched shoulders and far away gaze. "But you don't want to be," the former Wildcat observed. "You wish you could be like the others. Like me."

Under any other circumstances, this comment would deeply offend any normal person. Yet Kagome could see the truth in Kikyo's words; she really did want to be like Kikyo, a beautiful show-stopping devil in leather, jumping on the back of motorcycles and breaking all the rules. To some extent, every girl wanted that dangerous aura and, after spending so much time with the Wildcats, Kagome could taste the rebellion on her tongue; it drove her made with its sensual flavor, so close yet so far away.

"I do," Kagome admitted in barely a whisper. "But I could never be that. It's just not me."

"Who says?" Kikyo asked almost sharply, intense eyes boring holes in Kagome's gaze. "Maybe you're a wild child at heart and you've just never been tempted before. Give your inner bad girl a chance, would you?"

The other girl smiled a little, glancing out that solitary window at the passing world outside. "Yeah, maybe I should. I liked the leather clothes," Kagome admitted with a giggle.

"Everyone does," Kikyo replied with a small smile. "So, Kagome Higurashi, tell me about yourself, from the very beginning. I want to know you."

It was strange how Kikyo could say things like that without sounding strange, but she certainly had oddness down to a science. Kikyo was so eccentric she boarded on insane, yet Kagome couldn't help but be drawn to her; she sensed a certain danger about Kikyo which no doubt intrigued the strongest of men. Perhaps that's how she landed herself, a depressed nymphomaniac, in the hospital.

"About me, from the beginning? That's kind of a long story," Kagome confessed, suddenly growing quiet; thinking about her life made her think about her father. And that was a subject she hadn't touched on in ages.

Kikyo merely cocked her head to the side, once more resembling a curious puppy. "Well, I've got lots of time."

Kagome smiled a little, suddenly at ease. "So do I."

"Sesshomaru, the Wildcats have deferred to you."

Sesshomaru stood, head slightly cloudy from the muggy inside of the Warehouse. A table was set up, around which sat the Northern and Southern leading council. These meetings were always tedious and slightly unnecessary, as gangs rarely made moves for territory. While trying to annex other lands, your territory was momentarily weakened and open for other gangs to attack. A gang's force had to be immense and powerful before they would allow for such an ambitious move. Gang territory hadn't been changed since 1989 and on one seemed prepared to do anything about it.

Regarding the council with his cool amber eyes, Sesshomaru stated his information formally. "Sesshomaru Taisho, leader of the Fangs, 2001-2006. Territory begins at Main Street, 2315, and ends at Salter Avenue, 4197. Margins have remained as such since 1978. The Fangs number 78 in population, allies the Wildcats number 40 in population. Other statistics were stated previously in this meeting."

With this, he took his seat once more, nudging Kouga discreetly in the side. The wolf demon jumped slightly, removing his unfocused blue gaze from the grungy warehouse walls, and standing abruptly. "Kouga Ookami, second in command of the Fangs, 2001-2006."

As he sat down, Kouga locked eyes with Sesshomaru, who fixed him with a bored glare; despite his position as leader, Sesshomaru was just as bored as anyone else here.

This month's leader of the council, who happened to be Bankotsu, stood and addressed the table. Every month, the eight gangs took turns mediating the territory meetings. Under Tokyo Gang law, which was rather understood and not officially written, no one was to bring trouble against the council leader; there were several laws concerning territory meetings, in hopes that the get togethers could remain civil.

"That's the last stat speech. If anyone has any territory objections, say it now," Bankotsu said flatly, boredom reflecting in his own dull eyes.

Everyone prepared to stand and leave, seeing as though no one ever had territory proposals, but the table was stunned to hear a sinister voice say, "I have objections."

The other fifteen heads at the table turned and stared at the offending speaker, who turned out to be none other than Naraku Onigumo. Crimson eyes shining with masochistic glee, he slowly stood, bracing his hands against the table. "I want to propose a territory change."

Bankotsu exchanged glances with Jakotsu, his brother and second in command, who only shrugged his shoulders. Sighing a little, Bankotsu said, "Go ahead, Onigumo."

As Bankotsu took his seat once more, observing Naraku with a quizzical stare, Naraku nodded blankly in the council chair's direction. After returning his gaze to the rest of the table, Naraku declared, "I propose a territory change in the name of the Spiders. I move that ownership of Salter Avenue be transferred from the Fangs to the Spiders, as of tomorrow."

Everyone at the table gave a lurch, eyes wide and minds completely blank; Salter Avenue was not only the largest street in the city, but also an important area for everyone seated at the council meeting. They all went to school at Sarisoga High, located at 2153 Salter Avenue. The very idea of the Spiders owning the school sent Sesshomaru into a frenzy and he stood, slamming his fist down on the table. "No way in hell," he declared forcefully, more riled than most there recalled seeing him.

Naraku met eyes with his rival, amber dancing with crimson in a dangerous tango. "Watch out Sesshomaru, your cowardice is showing."

Immediately, the others all began objecting at once and Sesshomaru was about to retort, anger evident on his face, when Bankotsu yelled, "Shut up!" Everyone at the table turned to face him, silently respectful of the council head. After taking a deep breath, Bankotsu said, "The motion has been made. Who will second the motion?"

Everyone exchanged glances; not even the other Northerners had known about Naraku's intentions to propose this territory change and they were too surprised to speak up in his defense. Though they may be part of the same gang faction, the Dragons, Sharks and Vixens didn't want Naraku holding more power than he already did. It could mean a decline in power for the rest of them and that was simply out of the question. Every gang was constantly vying for more power and the lesser Northern gangs were no different.

When no one said anything, Bankotsu said strongly, "Motion shelved." Everyone let out unconscious breaths, heartbeats uneven as they imagined what might become of Tokyo, should the Spiders ever possess Salter. No one dared meet eyes with Naraku, who was shaking with pent up anger; how dare the other Northerners not support him? Even his second, Kaijinbo said nothing, only exchanging disbelieving glances with Kagura.

Bankotsu began, "If anyone has any more territory prop-"

"I'M NOT FINISHED!" Naraku screamed, breathing ragged and eyes beginning to emit an eerie glow.

Everyone jumped at the anger in his voice, suddenly fearing what might happen should Naraku lose control. Bankotsu regarded Naraku with a blank stare. "What else," he asked flatly, almost fearing the answer.

Naraku's insane gaze swept over the table, chilling everyone to the bone as they observed the maniacal glint in his eyes. "I want Salter and I want it now," he whispered hoarsely, sounding almost crazed by the idea of so much power.

Ranbou snorted, crossing his strong arms and observing the Spider's leader disdainfully. "You heard it, no one seconded the motion. You can't have Salter."

Sesshomaru nodded slightly, turning his hateful eyes upon Naraku's shaking form. "Besides, I refuse to relinquish possession of it," the dog demon reported sternly, almost daring anyone to disagree.

The other turned back to Naraku, fearful of what he might reply, and jumped slightly in their chairs as he brought his fist crashing down on the table. The portion where he stood splintered, cracking under the weight of his angry hit, and bowed, threatening to collapse. Naraku seemed not to notice or care as he clenched his fist so hard blood ran down his wrist. Judging by the pulsing glow in his eyes, the man was dangerously close to reverting to his demon form.

"I'll have Salter, with or without permission!" Naraku declared audaciously, growling in his throat and sending shivers down several spines.

"Over my dead body!" Sesshomaru yelled in return, standing to his full height several inches above his rival.

"That can be arranged," Ryuukoytsusei announced smugly, wicked eyes flashing at the idea of an illegitimate murder.

By this time, the other Northerners could see that Naraku was completely serious about this territory change and they shuddered to think what might happen to their gangs if they crossed him. Joining with Naraku to overtake Salter was looking better by the moment, yet the South wasn't going to lie down and take this sort of proposal lightly.

"If you threaten his life, you threaten your own," Ranbou growled, joining the other standing leaders; his fierce gaze reminded Ryuu that the Dragons weren't the only assassins in the town.

"Do not tempt me, wolf," Ryuu all but spat. "You could be next."

"Don't threaten him either, ya dumb ass piece o' dragon shit" Kouga shouted, standing quickly to defend his brother's honor. Ranbou shot him a thankful gaze from down the table and Kouga responded with a curt nod.

"QUIET!" Bankotsu called forcefully. "Everyone sit the fuck down!"

Though the enemies never removed their gazes from each other, they sunk back into their seats as ordered by the leader of the council. Yet Naraku remained standing.

"Like hell I will!" he retorted bravely.

"Then you can get out!" Bankotsu responded, obviously unafraid of Naraku and his wicked threats. The two locked eyes for a moment before Naraku let out a curse, grabbing his Spider's jacket off the back of his chair and stomping towards the door, footsteps echoing loudly in the warehouse. As Naraku slammed the door behind him, Bankotsu heaved a sigh and returned his gaze to the rest of the table. "Anyone else got any objections? Cause if so, you can join 'im!"

Akago, Kagura and Ryuu all exchanged glances, shaking their heads to each other as though agreeing there was no more to say. Naraku had already done the damage and now they knew to keep their mouths shut.

When no one spoke, Bankotsu smacked his palm down on the table. "Meeting adjourned."

Everyone let out a simultaneous breath and began speaking amongst themselves, wondering what Naraku had been thinking. The Northerners quietly left the building, only daring to whisper single sentences to each other, leaving the Southerners behind to discuss the recent uproar.

Sesshomaru was fit to be tied, angered that Naraku would even think such a ridiculous thought as owning Salter. The other leaders were soon at his side, reassuring their loyalty and stating Naraku's inferiority. This did little to set the Fang's leader at ease.

"Thank you, everyone, for your words, but I won't rest until Naraku is permanently dealt with," Sesshomaru said flatly, staunching all other positive words. When the others were regarding him silently, torn between respect and fear, he said quietly, "We wait for him to make the first move. So it will come to pass."

With this, Sesshomaru began walking towards the door, leaving Kouga to shrug towards the others and follow in his wake. Only the second week in June and this was sure to be an interesting summer.

Inuyasha continued turning the wrench back and forth, back and forth, working tirelessly away at the loose bolts under his car's hood. He had to confess, this thing needed a lot more work than he was willing to admit in the first place and it was wearing him out. The day was long and hot, coaxing sweat from his brow, and he wiped it away with the back of his arm; if only the sun would give it a rest, just for a minute.

He'd opened the warehouse wall, hoping to air out the stuffy building, and was now straight in the sun's path, despite his original intentions. Finally, without warning, Inuyasha gave a rough growl and threw down the wrench, turning pointedly away as it skidded across the floor and hit the wall with a loud clang. He couldn't stand sitting around doing nothing all day, waiting for the leading council to return from their stupid territory meeting.

It had always been a slight blow to his pride that Sesshomaru chose Kouga as his second in command, but he'd never said a word about it. It was only natural to everyone else that Sesshomaru would choose Kouga, the older, wiser, more level headed member of the Fangs. Inuyasha was too liable to go off at any moment, too unpredictable to be trusted. Well, a pox on all of them. That's what Inuyasha had to say on the matter.

"Hello," called a voice, echoing off the rafters of the warehouse.

Inuyasha raised his nose to the air, smelling that familiar scent of apple blossoms and cinnamon; it was Kagome. She walked inside, wearing a black singlet and Capri pants, looking more at ease than he'd seen her over the past few days. He was slightly surprised by her presence in the warehouse, but Inuyasha couldn't complain; Kagome's company was better than a lot of other people's, he'd learned.

"Over here," he replied, waving his hands slightly.

Kagome turned and saw Inuyasha waving, smudges of grease covering his body and marring the once white color of his wife beater. The hood of his car was open and she could guess he'd been working on it all day, for she'd heard it had its fair share of problems.

Inuyasha's beloved car was an old Lamborghini Diablo, the startling red of a firework. On either side of the car were three white claw marks, denoting property of the Fangs and Inuyasha's ownership. His wheel base was wide and obviously altered to accommodate street racing, along with certain modifications to the engine. The interior still smelled of new leather, comforting yet still alluding to that sense of danger. The car reminded Kagome so much of Inuyasha it was hard not to laugh; he was so proud of that thing, he might as well adopt it and call it his child. He'd restored it from it decimated position in the Tai-Fujishu junkyard, yet he wasn't quite finished with the inner mechanics; he'd spent nearly three years remodeling it and he'd yet to hear it run perfectly. It was one of Inuyasha's dreams as a dedicated mechanic.

"Hey there. Working on you car I see," Kagome said cheerfully, hopping up on a nearby work bench and bracing herself with her arms, regarding Inuyasha mildly.

The boy shrugged, grabbing a grease rag and wiping off his hands. "Nothin' else to do. Hear from Rin yet?"

"Nope," Kagome replied with a sigh. "Guess they're still in the meeting."

"Feh," came Inuyasha's discontented grunt. "Stupid meetings. Nothin' ever happens in em anyway, don't see why they go."

Despite Inuyasha's tough front, Kagome could see that he was secretly jealous of Kouga and Sesshomaru's positions as leaders of the Fangs. In Kagome's opinion, if he could ever get his temper under control, Inuyasha could be a fine leader. Yet, maybe it just wasn't in the cards for him; his anger was practically an untamable beast.

"Have you been here all day?" Kagome asked conversationally.

"Feh, where else wench?" came Inuyasha's rude reply. "What've you been doin' that's so exciting, huh?"

By this time, Kagome was used to Inuyasha's mood swings. Sometimes, he was a bully and other times he was downright sweet. Kagome's had learned to ride the tide along with everyone else and she took his sharp tone in stride. "I went to visit Kikyo in the clinic," she replied softly.

Inuyasha froze for a moment, glancing up and meeting eyes with Kagome. "Really?" When she nodded he asked soberly, "How is she?"

"She seemed okay to me," Kagome replied honestly, "But I could see how she might've gotten depressed. I got this sense from her that she was a really emotional person trying to repress emotion. I think it might've sent her over the edge."

After a time, Inuyasha smirked and crossed his arms loosely across his chest. "That's Kikyo, alright. She's a hard person to peg; I'm surprised you figured all that out about her in that short time."

"I dunno," Kagome replied, rather quietly. "It was almost as though I'd met her before; we're a lot alike."

Before Inuyasha could reply, the screeching of tires was heard as several cars and motorcycles pulled up to the front of the warehouse, startling Kagome and Inuyasha out of their conversation. They both jogged out to meet the assorted entourage, which consisted first and foremost of Sesshomaru's silver Saleen S7 Twin Turbo. When the Fang leader stepped out of his car, he looked absolutely livid and drained at the same time, not at all the strong demon Kagome had seen the previous day.

Jaw set in an almost unsure and worried way, he strutted inside the warehouse and towards the lounge area without a single glance in Inuyasha or Kagome's direction. Immediately following him came Kouga, who leapt out of the Saleen's passenger's seat, and Rin, who drove up in her Mercedes with Ayame's red Triumph Daytona 675 motorcycle right on her bumper. The others pulled up in Jakotsu's red pick up truck, all of them riding in the tailgate with grim expressions on their faces. Ranbou, Hakkaku and Bankotsu jumped out of the back hurrying up to where Inuyasha and Kagome were standing, incredibly confused.

"What the hell is going on!" Inuyasha bellowed, thoroughly irritated by this commotion around his warehouse.

Ranbou sighed, exchanging glances with the others before saying quietly. "We've got some bad news."

Right then and there, both Inuyasha and Kagome knew nothing good had come of the territory meeting. And there were to be serious repercussions.

_Dear Shitora,_

_You wouldn't believe the shit that went down today. I spent the whole fucking day working on the Diablo while Sesshomaru and Kouga went to their dumb territory meeting. You know how those were always kind of a joke since nothing ever happened? Well something happened today. Naraku stood up and proposed that the territories be changed with Salter in the Spider's possession. Obviously nobody backed him up, even his Northern buddies; they don't want him any more powerful than he is now, I think, and they were probably scared. Sesh was against the idea, of course, and this started up some big ass fight. Naraku went nuts and said he'd take Salter with or without everyone permission, so we're all on our guard now. Dad oughta be comin' home from his business trip early this morning; I'll tell him you said hi cause I bet you would. Kaede sends her love and says she misses picking up your clothes; I don't see why, since she probably has enough work between me and Sesshomaru anyway. You better write me back this time, you little twit!_

_Love, Inuyasha_

**Okay, another chapter done. Sorry about the delay on Mild Violence, but that chapter will be coming soon. I've got some free periods, not to mention all of English class, teehee.**

**KOLU**


	7. The Date

**Okay, I'm really sorry it took me so long to do this chapter, but I had to carefully plan things out in line with my ideas...that sounds stupid when you sat it out loud/write it, but I can't really explain my problem. It's like...I had good ideas and was afraid I wouldn't do them justice. I kind of castrated some of my ideas in this, cutting them down to the bare essentials and all that, but I like this chapter anyway. Mostly because it involved a lot of KOUGAXAYAME, but that's just my preference. They were easy to set up and now just three couples to go. InuxKag, SanxMir and ?x?...hehe...**

**My reviewers have increased so that I don't feel comfortable naming them all, lest I forget them. So suffice it to say, I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH! THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! YAY!**

"Inuyasha, get yeself out of bed."

Inuyasha rolled away from the streaming morning light, cursing with what little energy he had left. Tugging a pillow over his head, he muttered, "Go 'way."

A short woman with a kind face and commanding air crossed her arms, causing wrinkles in her red house dress. "Inuyasha, I'm quite serious; get up."

As Inuyasha thought back to his previous night's letter writing, he suddenly had the urge to go right back to sleep. He'd gone to bed around three in the morning after getting home from headquarters and writing Shitora a note. With another groan, Inuyasha recalled the date; his father was home today. Inutaisho, normally adressed with the simple one word name, was a worker at the local Exon Mobil factory, a sales representative who traveled around the globe promoting the company. The Taishos weren't unusually wealthy, nor were they poor, and they lived a rather comfortable existence in a normal sized house. The only downside was the amount of time Inutaisho was forced to spend away. Because of his job, he rarely saw his sons.

"Inuyasha," the voice reminded once more, catching one dog ear between old, calloused fingers.

When the boy gave a growl and rolled out of the way, he consequently landed on the floor at his antagonizer's feet. Kaede Mitsuhori glanced down at the hanyou, sighing and rolling her old eyes. "Ye'll be the death of me, Inuyasha," she said simply, giving him a nudge with her sandal clad foot before walking purposefully out the door.

Inuyasha struggled to his feet, smirking a little at his life long maid and babysitter. With Inutaisho gone so often, he'd hired a live in housekeeper and nanny for his three children. After Shitora left, Sesshomaru was only 15 and Kaede stayed on to watch the children. When Sesshomaru turned 17, Inutaisho told the woman she was dismissed if she liked; she'd politely refused, saying the Taisho home was now her home as well. In truth, Inuyasha couldn't remember life without her.

Kaede bustled into Sesshomaru's room, which was a good deal cleaner than Inuyasha's, and smiled slightly at the sight before her. While Inuyasha slept in several positions, none of which were dignified, Sesshomaru laid flat on his back every single night, barely even ruffling the covers. There was something so calm and smooth about Sesshomaru, it was hard to remember he'd yet to turn 18.

"Sesshomaru, my boy, your father is home," she said, shaking his shoulder gently.

The boy grunted, opening his amber eyes with a slight hesitance. Upon digesting the words, he gave a sigh and sat up in bed. "Is he now," came his cool response.

"He requests your presence in the kitchen over breakfast; Inuyasha should be getting up, though far be it from me to trust the little scamp," Kaede informed him, rolling her eyes at the last part.

The boy before her smirked slightly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing to his full height, at least a good foot and a half above Kaede. "You go on ahead downstairs, Kaede. If Inuyasha isn't up now, he certainly will be soon."

The woman nodded and left, footsteps thick as they descended the staircase to the ground floor. Sesshomaru made quick work of dressing, wearing simple black jeans and a white wifebeater with his Fangs jacket. He had no reservations about discussing gang business with his father for Inutaisho was once a Fang member himself. He was, in fact, leader of the gang in the early eighties, and respected his sons' decisions to walk that path of life. The way Inutaisho saw it, his sons earned good grades and worked hard in school; if they wanted to play around with the Fangs, who was he to stop them? They did all he asked of them and he had nothing more to ask.

Inutaisho glanced up from his coffee as Sesshomaru stepped inside the kitchen, the spitting image of his father. "Good morning, Sesshomaru," the man said mildly, setting down his mug and tearing his eyes away from the morning paper.

Inutaisho wore a simple grey suit, his long white hair pulled back in an elegant black ribbon. He was every bit the business man, yet every bit the father; he and Sesshomaru were quite alike in their ways, though Inutaisho had a terrible temper. This, he'd given to Inuyasha.

"Good morning, dad," Sesshomaru replied in kind, pouring himself a glass of milk while regarding his father with a small smile.

"Where's Yash?" Inutaisho asked casually, glancing around in search of his youngest son.

Sesshomaru only snorted. "Sleeping, I suppose. I'll go rouse him..."

Yet before the boy could do any such thing, Inuyasha came thundering down the stairs and into the kitchen, wearing leather pants and a black wife beater with his Fangs jacket. He merely nodded in his father's direction, drinking straight from the milk carton after grabbing it unceremoniously from Sesshomaru's hand. Inutaisho sighed, quirking a smile; Inuyasha always was the rebellious one.

"Hey old man," he said with a jerk of his head, plopping down at the table.

"Hey yourself," Inutaisho replied with mild amusement cocking his head to the side. "Kaede tells me you were up late doing God knows what."

The hanyou only snorted, tipping his chair back on two legs and leaning back his head. "I was writing Shitora; you oughta be thanking me."

At the slight belligerence in his son's voice, Inutaisho sighed and leaned back in his own chair. The subject of his daughter was one which never truly pleased him, for he'd sent her away at the young age of 13 to live with her aunt. After Izayoi's death, he couldn't very well raise her in a house of three men and a housekeeper, so he decided to introduce her to proper society. He would never truly know if his decision was correct, yet he knew it must be made. At least this was what he managed to convince himself; truly, the sight of Shitora brought back Izayoi's smiling face and Inutaisho couldn't stand it. The guilt inside tore him apart as he faced the cold hard truth: he couldn't stand to look at his daughter.

"I _should_ be thanking you. How is she, have you heard?" Inutaisho asked, ever concious of his children.

Inuyasha shrugged. "When she writes back, it's normally about how much she hates that high fallutin' ballroom bull shit up there. I dunno, I guess high society ain't her thing. Never was, never will be."

His son's words provoked a wince from Inutaisho; she hated it? That certainly made him feel guilty. "Oh. She'll be turning 16 soon, I should send her something."

At this, Sesshomaru fixed his father with a cold glare. "17, dad. Shitora's turning 17."

The older man was silent for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. "Of course, 17. June 29th, I know. I've had a lot on my mind lately."

Inuyaha snorted once more, jerking his head moodily away from his father. "That was mom's birthday, dad. Tora's birthday is July 13, 1989. 7:33 in the morning, 5 pounds, 7 ounces, 18 inches long, Tokyo Hospital. It was raining like hell and mom called her Shitora, tiger child, because she had three stripe birth marks on her stomach. You might not remember all that shit, but I sure as hell do. And I was only a year old. So don't play dumb."

His words cut Inutaisho deep and the man grimaced slightly, scooting back his chair and standing to his feet. "Well, if you boys will excuse me, I got in three hours ago and could use some sleep. I suppose you'll be going to headquarters?" All he received in response was a curt nod from Sesshomaru, who barely met his gaze. "Right...I'll talk to you boys later."

As soon as Inutaisho left the room, Inuyasha let out a growl and kicked over a chair, mind raging with indignance. He couldn't even remember Shitora's birthday? How dare he call himself her father? Sesshomaru didn't react to Inuyasha's angry display, only standing quietly and retreiving his keys from his jacket pocket. Inuyasha caught his brother's eye and shook his head slowly, grabbing his own jacket before following Sesshomaru out to the car. It was going to be a long day, he could tell.

Rin gave a heavy sigh, standing directly in the path of the blowing fan; on days like today, the warehouse was almost unbearable. Even with the hangar door open, the Fangs and Wildcats struggled mightily with the heat, stripping off their clothes one by one. Rin, for instance, wore only a black sports bra and a pair of barely there jean shorts; she'd given up on her shirt long ago. Gang jackets were slung about the lounge area as the sound of turning wrenches and spinning drills echoed off the walls.

Sango wiped sweat from her brow as she pored over the engine of Jakotsu's old pick up truck. By this time, she was wearing baggy jeans and a sports bra, not unlike Rin; normally Sango was much more modest than her leader, but it seemed hot enough to scramble eggs on the pavement.

"Hey Miroku, what's it say?" she asked, watching as the boy tugged his shirt over his head, revealing a seat of impressive chest muscles, tan skin glistening as sweat rolled down his neck.

Miroku was currently trying to read the warehouse thermometer and, after studying the device for a moment, he looked up to meet several expectant eyes. "105 degrees."

The mechanics gave a simultaneous groan as several indulgently began peeling off another layer of clothing. It certainly sounded hotter when stated that way. Could it even safely reach 105 degrees without spontaneously setting things aflame?

Several other gang members were milling about, working on their own vehicles with Fang equipment at their disposal. The Fangs were well outfitted to serve several mechanics at once and the other Southern Cores took the gang up on their generous offer to share the warehouse elevators and tools, free of charge.

Ranbou, Ginta and Hakkaku, for instance, were arguing over a red Yamaha motorcycle, deciding what kind of bolts to use on the transmission valve. Across the way, Bankotsu was rolled up beneath an old Corvette, working dilligently away in the nearly unbearable conditions. Hiten was sitting, shirtless, on the Corvette's hood with a beer in his hand and a rather nasty bruise clouding his scalp, the result of Manten's beating.

"Hand me the wrench...no, smaller...smaller still, there you go," Ayame said tiredly, nodding as Kouga handed her the correct wrench.

Ayame, doing as the Romans had done, was wearing her sports bra and a pair of loose fitting mechanics jeans. Kouga was shirtless by this point, displaying his own well toned body, yet this was the least of his worries; right then, he could think of nothing but how sexy Ayame looked in her ragt-tag ensemble. It was making it difficult to concentrate, frankly, and Kouga almost wanted to throw her a shirt. Yet he would never deny himself the pleasure of watching her work on a motorcycle in a sports bra.

"So, where are we going tonight?" she asked, never removing her eyes from the motorcycle's open paneled parts; she hadn't forgotten their scheduled date.

Kouga rubbed the back of his neck, sweat coating his palm. "I was thinking the pier, but I wasn't counting on the heat wave of the century. It'll probably cool down by tonight...probably."

The girl laughed a little, glancing up at Kouga. "Hey, if you're willing to gamble, I'm game."

Meanwhile, Sango and Miroku were dilligently attending to some old Toyota Celica's expansion tank, passing parts back and forth in silence as Miroku configured his next move. After a moment, he asked, "Did you have a good day yesterday?" Sure, he knew it was lame, but he had to break the quiet; a man like Miroku couldn't stand noislessness for long, not before he wanted to do something dirty.

Without removing her eyes from the car's distributor box, Sango replied casually, "Went to see Kikyo. She asked about you."

This surprised Miroku, who glanced up from the mod plans he was glancing at; this car was going to take some extensive work. "About me? What about me?"

_Oh, good job Sango, why don't you just ruin your entire life while you're at it, _the girl chided herself. In truth, Kikyo had asked, in her catty way, if Sango and Miroku were dating yet. As she did almost daily, Sango stated her numerous reasons for disliking Miroku and was only met with Kikyo's pernicious brown gaze. There wasn't a word she could say in her defense and she knew it, so Sango just gave up on the idea of dissuading Kikyo's desire from romantic drama. Now that she'd mentioned Kikyo's curiosity, Sango would have to make up something convincing to go with it.

"Um...she asked about your race. I told her you did awesome and she was pleased," Sango replied, stumbling over her words as she examined the car's system dubiously.

Miroku practically beamed. "Thank you for your good words, Sango," he said gratefully.

The boy sounded so heart breakingly honest about his thanks that Sango couldn't help feeling guilty. Just one white lie and she was shamed out of her skin. "Yeah, no problem," she mumbled. Why couldn't she lie to him? She lied often, as a gang member in sticky situations, and got away emotionally unscathed by guilt. What was so different about Miroku?

Kagome was sitting at the table in the kitchen area of the lounge, wearing a white singlet and a short jean skirt. Rin had asked her to organize some of the Fang and Wildcats papers, which surprised Kagome to no end; seeing as though she wasn't part of the gang, what right did she have to sort through their no doubt incriminating materials? But Rin seemed to think it was legitimate and, at the current time, Kagome was massaging her temples as she leafed through a stack of territory meeting notes from way back when. Some of them dated as far back as August, 1996, but Rin said every single one of these papers was from the filing cabinets in the storage room. Sesshomaru insisted on documenting all these things and, every once and a while, someone had to go through everything and sort it.

"Hey," came a familiar, aggravated tone.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had just parked and wandered inside five minutes prior, but Sesshomaru was preoccupied discussing "business" with Rin. This left Inuyasha to throw down his jacket and strip off his shirt, which was already sticking to his skin. After seeing Kagome doing the annual paper sorting, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel drawn to her, as though he just wanted to sit near her or speak a few words. He often had these feelings around Kagome, but he dismissed them as mere passing infatuation. _Even though her scent drives you wild, _Inuyasha reminded himself smugly. Apple blossoms and cinnamon, a heavenly combination.

Kagome glanced up, giving Inuyasha a tired but genuine smile. "Hey. How about this weather, huh?"

Shrugging a little, Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and replied moderately, "Is it better in Kyoto or somethin'?"

Kagome wouldn't admit it to herself, but she was actually examining Inuyasha's bare chest. It was the perfect tan shade, not too light or dark, and his muscles were the absolute embodiment of perfection, sculpted and well formed. The way they rippled beneath his skin was absolutely mesmerizing and Kagome only allowed her eyes to stray from the sight when she saw a flash of silver near his neck. She cocked her head, pointing to a chain hanging from Inuyasha's neck.

"What're those?" she asked, ignoring his question about Kyoto's weather.

Following her gaze to the chain, Inuyasha picked up the two dangling metal pieces in his hand. "What, these? Dogtags. My dad gave all of us dogtags when we were born and we just never took em off. Got our names an stuff."

"That's cool," Kagome said with a bright smile. After a moment, however, her smile fell. "God, it's so hot, I can't even smile without feeling tired." Glancing over at the other girls, Kagome noticed that everyone else had stripped down to their sports bras. Without a second thought, she reached down to the hem of her singlet and removed it with one swift tug.

Inuyasha stood, wide eyed and open mouthed, as Kagome took her shirt off right before his eyes. Sure, she was wearing a sports bra, but it wasn't every day that women stripped right before his eyes. He couldn't help but notice the light caramel tone of her skin, the flat stomach and curvacious chest which made her body so glorious. The hanyou gulped and looked away, trying to stifle whatever urges flooded to the surface of his mind. When he turned back to Kagome, she was bent over her work again, trying to find the records from July, 1999.

Shaking his head a little at the girl's innocent and oblivious nature, Inuyasha turned away from the beautiful sight of Kagome's bare flesh and ambled to the fridge, retrieving a cold beer and popping the top. It was barely eleven in the morning and the sun was already beating down mercilessly on little, defenseless Tokyo. Hesitating to wonder what the afternoon might feel like, Inuyasha kicked off his shoes and padded over towards Bankotsu and Hiten, taking a seat beside Hiten on the hood.

"Hey, Yash," Hiten greeted mildly, taking a swig of his own beer.

Inuyasha jerked his head in response, spreading his legs and resting his elbows on his knees. After taking another sip from his bottle, Inuyasha gestured towards Hiten's face with his beer. "That where Manten gotcha?"

Hiten grimaced, eyes darkening at the sound of his brother's name. "Yeah, I...I didn't even fight back. People probably think I'm some kinda pansy ass fruitcake now."

His choice of words provoked a barking laugh from Inuyasha, who only shook his head. "Nah, they know you're made of tough shit. Just don't go getting yourself beat up next time."

Before Hiten could retort, a sharp howl echoed through the warehouse and the various mechanics turned their heads immediately towards the sound. Ginta was kneeling beside the Yamaha motorcycle, right hand clenched over his left thigh where a small blood stain was breaking out on his jeans. As though he could take no more, Ginta jerked to his feet and started swinging his arms in an angry gesture of displeasure. The onlookers exchanged confused glances; they'd never seen Ginta even remotely upset in their entire lives and he was throwing a temper tantrum right before their eyes.

"Mother fuckin' piece of crap!" Ginta hollered, tossing the said device to the ground in his anger; it was a sharp ended metal saw, which he'd been using to cut new tailpipes with. With his demon strength, Ginta could could through metal with the metal saw easily, yet in the heat he'd momentarily lost focus and landed the sharp blade in the meat of his thigh.

Ranbou sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck in a mild gesture of irritation. "I think that's a sign; we need to take a break," he announced, loud enough that the other mechanics could hear him. After exchanging brief glances with their partners, the other mechanics walked wordlessly away from their work and began meandering towards the lounge area, fanning themselves and muttering profanity.

Everyone settled down around the couches, after some grabbed beers and Hakkaku managed to calm Ginta down. The multitude of shirtless teens seemed to almost collapse from the heat and general anxiety of their day once they'd gathered together, letting out several sighs and yawns before Ranbou broke the silence.

"Anyone got a smoke?"

Sesshomaru dug around in his pocket before producing a box of Marlboro reds, holding out the box in Ranbou's direction. The wolf demon shot his friend a thankful glance before taking one and lighting it with the zippo lighter he'd found lingering in his jean pocket. This action seemed to inspire several people and others began lighting up until Rin, Bankotsu, Hiten, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, Sesshomaru and Kouga had joined in the smoking circle. Kagome was still working away on the papers, not really noticing or caring that the others had stopped working to smoke cigarettes.

Rin glanced over, blowing out a perfect smoke ring before calling out, "Kagome, give it a rest over there. Come relax."

The girl in question looked up bewilderdly, eyes cloudy from the heat, before she replied, "But I'm not fini-"

"Don't worry about it," Rin insisted, smiling a little at her cousin. "We can't work either."

A few of the others chuckled and Sesshomaru reassured the girl, "I can't focus on organizing those papers when it's below boiling. Please, don't worry yourself over it."

Deciding to give up on her compulsive nature, Kagome stood up and walked over to the others, taking a seat on the couch next to Inuyasha. The cigarette smoke didn't bother her, as she'd become accustomed to it in Kyoto; most of the high school kids smoked there and she'd even lit up a few times. Sure, she didn't make a habit of it, but sometimes she wanted a cigarette just to kill the stress. She gave off the appearance of an innocent, charming little schoolgirl, but honestly she'd seen her fair share of troubles.

"Inuyasha, can I have a cigarette, please?" she asked the boy beside her.

The others were too hot to notice her request, at this point, but Inuyasha heard her quite clearly. He blinked, glancing around as though to look for other Inuyashas, and finally returned his gaze to Kagome. "You?" he asked, speaking around the cigarette tucked between his lips.

"No, the other me, yes me," Kagome retorted irritably as the couch stuck to her back.

Too tired to argue, Inuyasha reached into his pocket and withdrew a box of cigarettes, holding them up to Kagome. She retrieved one, thanking him shortly, before realizing she had no lighter. Before she could even ask, Inuyasha whipped out his own lighter and flicked the wheel, holding the flame up to the end of Kagome's smoke. As the action took place, Kagome and Inuyasha locked eyes, amber and chocolate resuming their familiar dance.

Before either party could say anything, a startled voice exclaimed, "Kagome!"

Kagome turned towards Rin, who was regarding her with a seemingly amused expression. "You're smoking," Rin pointed out, as though her cousin didn't know.

Rolling her eyes, Kagome replied sarcastically, "Oh God, really? I just thought I was chewing this flaming stick."

Sango let out a snort of laughter and Rin slapped her playfully, earning a muffled grunt in return. Smiling slightly, Rin turned away from Sango and continued her conversation with Kagome. "I didn't know you smoked."

Kagome shrugged. "I quit, kind of, but I guess it was bad timing cause I sure as hell need a cigarette right now."

Kouga chuckled slightly. "I hear ya."

There were similar murmurs of agreement before Hakkaku reached into his pocket, retrieving a small, rectangular box. He held it up, asking, "Texas hold 'em?"

Several people raised their hands, moving in closer to surround the table as Hakkaku began dealing out the deck. Kagome watched in fascination, realizing that Rin was right about the whole gang mentality; it was like a big family, getting together to protect each other when times got rough. Some nights they raced, some nights they boosted cars, and most days they worked away in a hidden garage. But some time, like right then, they just smoked and played cards like a normal bunch of folks. The transition was intriguing, to be sure, and Kagome didn't quite know what to make of it. Still, something inside her liked the way people could be dangerous and relaxed at the same time.

Kagome sat contentedly by and watched the boys play a game of cards, marveling at their closeness all the while. She could almost tell by watching that these boys would do anything for one another. As she removed the cigarette from her mouth and exhaled, she saw Rin's sillhouette through the smoke cloud. Her cousin was heading straight towards her with a purposeful yet somehow gleeful step.

"Kags," Rin greeted, bending down to level with Kagome. "We've got woman stuff to do; Ayame's got a date with Kouga tonight."

Blinking, Kagome stood and brushed herself off out of habit, looking back at the others momentarily. Turning back to Rin, she asked in a hushed tone, "What do we have to do about that?"

As though this were perfectly obvious, Rin popped her hip to the side and regarded Kagome with mild disdain. "Get her ready. Duh."

Rin turned on her heels and marched over to Sango, shaking her and beginning to explain the situation rapidly. Kagome rolled her eyes and was about to get up when a strong hand gripped her arm; she could feel the calming coolness of claws, barely grazing her skin. "Where you goin?" Inuyasha asked, glaring pointedly at her.

Shrugging, Kagome said, "Girl stuff. I've gotta go."

Inuyasha gave a derisive snort and released her arm, returning to his game as though nothing had transpired. Kagome jogged over to Rin and Sango, waiting until they'd finished their conversation to ask the obvious question.

"So, why can't Ayame get ready by herself? Maybe she doesn't want us crowding her space."

Rin turned around with a fierce glare and threw up her hands in frustration. "Kagome, it's like you never been a girl or something! We're obligated to help! It's a rule in the feminism hand book!"

With this, Rin spun around, rubbing her hands together in an evil gesture, before marching straight up to where Ayame was dozing off on the couch next to Ranbou. The Wildcat's leader shook her violently, practically screaming in her ear, "Get up, bitch!"

Besides the fact that Ayame's sensetive demon hearing could've hear a near whisper, the wolf was practically scared out of her mind. She jumped slightly, body rocking the couch as she almost tumbled over the side, only to be stopped by Ranbou's hand on her bra straps. He yanked her back with a stinging snap and sighed, glaring up at Rin.

"Do you mind? I'm playing cards here," he informed her irritatedly.

Meanwhile, Kouga was trying to collect himself while simultaneously trying to forget his brother snapping Ayame's bra. It simply wasn't an image he needed to preserve, nor was this a feeling he needed to foster. He was feeling two things: possession towards Ayame and anger towards his brother for moving in on his territory. Sure, his streak of humanity knew Ranbou meant nothing but to help Ayame and Ayame was a person in and of herself, but Kouga's demon senses couldn't hear tell of these facts. Ayame was his and Ranbou was a rival, end of story.

Sesshomaru sensed his friend's anxiety and glanced to the side, murmuring, "Kouga," to grab the boy's attention.

"What!" Kouga snarled in return, eyes blazing with unbidden fire. The others looked taken aback, as Kouga and Sesshomaru never fought over any issue, big or small, but Kouga soon resumed his poker face. Sighing slightly, he massaged his temples and muttered, "Sorry, Shomo. I don't know what's wrong with me."

By this time, Ayame found herself being dragged to her feet by an incredibly bossy Rin and dragged towards the door, followed slowly by Sango and Kagome. All four girls were hurriedly putting on their shirts, lest they run out in their sports bras where the world could see. Bankotsu glanced over the back of the couch, asking, "Where you ladies goin?"

"Business for bitches only!" Rin announced flirtatiously, winking at the boys before shoving Ayame bodily through the mechanical stations and towards the Mercedes.

Sango and Kagome waved goodbye to the others, looking more than a little confused as they followed at their leader's heels. Rin was often nonsensical, but she was charismatic that she'd never be forgotten or ignored. Even in times of great insanity, Rin would still have a faithful following.

The girls piled in the Mercedes, squealing off into the distance and leaving the boys in their wake. The group of males exchanged glances, shrugging their shoulders and preparing to resume their game. Before they could do this, however, Ranbou slapped down his cards and let loose a low chuckle, taking a swig of beer and a drag on his cigarette. He looked downright smug and Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"What's a matter with you?" he asked rudely.

Ranbou continued grinning, turning to his little brother and winking broadly. "Ko's got a hot date!"

The others laughed, some at Ranbou's flamboyant attitude and some at Kouga's outraged face, before Kouga grew rather red and crossed his arms. "Shut up!" he said indignantly, looking pointedly away from his friends. "S'not like you never had one."

This only served to bring Ranbou's eyebrows into the fringe of his hair in surprise. "Me? Date? Oh no, no, no, baby bro, I don't date. I mate."

The group exploded with laughter at the outrageous statement, slapping their knees and throwing back their heads. Even Sesshomaru had a good hearty laugh over Ranbou's suggestion, while Kouga couldn't help but crack a smile. "You're such a frickin' man whore, Bo."

At this, Ranbou leapt to the other couch and plopped down next to Kouga, wrapping him in a headlock and giving him a fierce noogie. "And you're about to follow in my footsteps! I've got so many techniques to pass down through the generations!"

"Dear God," Ginta muttered hopelessly, "He's an idiot. Our leader's an idiot."

"I'll second that," Miroku snorted, smiling slightly as he took a sip of beer. They turned back to Ranbou's presentation on the art of seducing women; it was certainly going to be entertaining.

"Alright," Ranbou began, once he was standing where all could see him. "The first thing we need to cover is what to say when you pick her up. What're you gonna say?"

Quirking an eyebrow, Kouga suggested, "Hey, Ayame?"

"Enh, wrong!" Ranbou answered, crossing his arms disappointedly. "You need something exciting, something to grab her attention. Like...'Hey, Ayame, have you ever wanted to do it on a rollercoaster?'"

Inuyasha smacked his forehead with his palm, shaking his head slowly as Kouga stared at his brother incredulously. "You're joking," he said flatly, certain his brother was being funny like always. Yet Ranbou looked quite serious.

"What? Joking? Not me. Wouldn't it grab your attention if she knocked on your door in her underwear, asking if you could help her 'clean the shower?'" Ranbou replied haughtily, looking almost offended.

At the mere thought of Ayame in her underwear, Kouga gulped and grew incredibly red in the face. "Uh..." he trailed off. Realizing that he couldn't quite form a coherent sentence, Kouga resorted to thinking cold thoughts, hoping he might become slightly yes hot in the lower regions. _'Cold, cold cold, Antarctica, cold beer, old men in bikinis, Ranbou pole dancing...ugh.'_

"Then you need to keep your promises, as I've always taught you. Take her to the rollercoaster and..." Ranbou began, only to be cut off by Sesshomaru.

"Ko, I think you know what to do, don't listen to this bonehead," Sesshomaru said with a small smile, ignoring Ranbou's outraged huff.

Groaning, Kouga massaged his head again and murmured, "If I don't listen to somebody I'm gonna screw the whole damn thing up. I know me. I suck at romantic situations."

Hiten smirked, raising his beer in a sort of toast. "I'll drink to that."

The others gave a hurrah, clinking their glasses as Kouga regarded them irritatedly. Finally, after everyone had practically drained their bottles, Inuyasha turned to Kouga with a sort of nonchalant hand gesture. "Look, just do what you normally do. You an Aya get along fine when you ain't on a date, so don't make it any different. Talk about mechanics or some shit...you got a lot in common."

The room was silent for a moment as the others' minds went blank with curious fear; had Inuyasha just made a good plan? Before anyone could taunt his brother, Sesshomaru picked up where Inuyasha left off. "If you really think about it, you're with Ayame for a good part of your day and most of your week. If you have nothing to talk about by now, then perhaps you weren't meant to be."

Kouga nodded a little, growing steadily more confident as he mulled over the idea. "Hey, yeah, you're right. And we never run outta stuff to talk about. So...I guess I'm in good shape then?"

The others exchanged glances, as though wondering if they'd forgotten anything, and they finally nodded. Bankotsu added almost as an afterthought, "And you know what you're wearin, right?"

The wolf demon's blank stare was the only necessary answer and Miroku chuckled. "Just go home and change shirts; you'll be fine. As far as I'm concerned, there's only three things to do in preparation for a date. Rest, relax, and stretch."

"Stretch?" Inuyasha echoed, cocking an eyebrow questioningly.

"Of course," Miroku replied, nodding wisely. "In case you end up doing something...strenuous. I myself practice my reach, just in case she leans over and-"

"Yeah, thanks Miroku," Hakaku interrupted, holding up one wry hand to stop the boy's perverted tirade.

Kouga leaned back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling, moaning, "This is gonna be a long day."

By this time, Ayame was beginning to wonder what Rin and the others were up to. She was sitting blindly in the passenger's seat, staring at everyone as though expecting some kind of explanation, though she never received one. Sango and Kagome were carrying on a hushed conversation in the backseat, sneaking glances at her every once and while; Rin merely grinned madly, eyes forever trained on the road. Eventually, the girls pulled up to a sickeningly familiar parking lot and Ayame gasped, grabbing desperately for the doorhandle only to find the child lock activated. Seeing that there was absolutely no way out, the wolf demon gave a whine and sat back against the seat, closing her eyes fretfully.

"Guys, have a heart," she moaned, staring at the mall entrance with a pitiful pout.

Rin just laughed, killing the engine and poising her finger directly above the child lock switch. "We're gonna get you ready for your date, Aya, and you're gonna love it! Positive!"

Seeing that her cousin's pitiful reassurance tactics had no effect on Ayame, Kagome jumped in, "We're really more tag alongs here than anything. You're picking what you want, we're just...sideline guidance."

Glancing at the two girls in the backseat, Ayame took a deep breath and said unhappily, "Let's just get this over with."

Rin squealed madly at what she considered her own "success" and unlocked the child mechanism, practically leaping out the door in her joyful state. Sango and Kagome exchanged glances, fighting back smiles, before following their friends towards the mall. Kagome had actually never been to the Tokyo mall before, but it was bigger than any mall she could ever imagine. Stores upon stores lined the walls, carrying all the latest fashions and buzzing with business. There must have been easily three thousand people within the mall, yet there was still room for more. Sango grabbed Kagome's hand and dragged her along, lest they not catch up with Rin and Ayame several feet ahead.

Their first stop was a wild looking teen store called "Hot Spot." The shades inside were mostly of the firetruck variety, though Rin seemed completely at home here. Ayame's mouth dropped as she looked around at all the ridiculously revealing clothing, recalling momentarily that she'd worn next to nothing the past few days. "_But it's just because it's hot outside...it's not like I wear my bra around every day of the frickin' year." _Yet her righteous moral speech did little to ease her mind. This really was a trying situation; Ayame hated shopping. Passionately.

"Oooh, this is cute!" Rin exclaimed, holding up a tight red tube top and barely there mini skirt to match.

Ayame merely blinked before announcing, "I'm outta here," and turning towards the door.

Rin opened her mouth to protest, yet Kagome was way ahead of her. The kind girl linked arms with her redheaded friend, accompanying her out of the store. "Maybe that wasn't your store. I'm sure we can find something in this mall you'd like."

Wincing at the thought of actually searching for clothes, Ayame sighed and muttered, "I hate shopping."

Kagome blinked, asking after a moment, "You do? I didn't know that. Well, we'll get this over with quickly then. Rin made it sound like you loved shopping."

"You don't say," Ayame said through gritted teeth, turning her head to stare back at Rin, several steps behind her. Rin just gave a nervous laugh, unconciously saddling up closer to Sango for protection.

"Oh, let's go in here!" Kagome said suddenly, dragging Ayame bodily into the store. On the way in, the redhead could barely make out the sign overhead; it read "Chloe's Closet."

Inside, the clothing took a completely different spin than that of Hot Spot; it was artistic, eccentric, often involving sequins, bits of cloth stapled on, and occassionally a hole or two. Ayame's eyes widened as she took in the plethera of radical clothing and she emitted a soft, "Wow." Kagome crossed her arms triumphantly and exchanged proud glances with Sango; perhaps this was more Ayame's style.

Immediately, the girls picked out several different tops and bottoms, throwing them in Ayame's arms until she was struggling beneath the bundle's weight. After staggering to the dressing room, Ayame locked the door and began to mix and match. The girls often threw out suggestions or comments, stating that her hips looked wide or the cut was wrong, sometimes things concerning color and style. Eventually, Ayame tried the last thing she could think of. Pushing the door open tentatively, she stood there as her friends examined her outfit.

She wore a pair of tight black jeans with her black platform flip flops, which she'd decided were lucky and going with her on the date no matter what her clothes looked like. Her top was bodice style, a black background with an green oriental flower design curling up its silken cloth. It laced up the front, yet in a modest way, managing to hug Ayame's curves perfectly. The girls exchanged glances, grinning and nodding in satisfaction; that would do nicely.

Rin glanced at her watch and gave a nod of satisfaction, calling, "Come along, ladies, it's already 5:00 and we haven't done hair or make up or any of that shit!"

Ayame scowled at her leader, handing the cashier a credit card before replying snotily, "We haven't and won't; I don't wear make-up."

The other girls just snorted. "That's what you think," Sango announced, winking broadly in her friend's direction.

Eventually, after a painful trip back to Rin's house, during which the other three girls discussed what sort of make-up might best compliment Ayame's skin tone, not to mention a rather angry disagreement over her hair style, the wolf demon's friends had donned her ready for her date. After her friends so painstakingly put on her make-up, which made Ayame feel rather caked with oil, Rin called up Kouga and announced rather smugly to him that he could pick Ayame up at the Takeyama residence whenever he was ready.

Ayame hadn't budged from her position in the mirror, where she was observing her face with some disdain. She'd never found herself extrodinarily beautiful; she was sure if a stunning man were to walk by on the street, he wouldn't even glance her direction. Her looks were that unremarkable. Still, she had to admit that Kouga was absolutely gorgeous. Despite their years of friendship, she was surprised he cared enough to ask her on a date. Ayame, to put it plainly, was stunned he'd ask someone so...ugly...to go on a date with him. He could have anyone that Friday night, but he chose her. Why?

The girl was becoming quite nervous, butterflies erupting in her stomach and causing her a great deal of confusion. Ayame was a fairly confident person and hadn't felt so shaky since her first grade ballet recital. What with the new clothes, the gallons of make-up and her friends' constant advice, (keep you eyes wide to make him think your interested, make sure not to talk too much, make him feel special, don't pick wedgies while he's looking) Ayame was about ready to explode with anxiety.

Just then, she felt a sort of comfort wash over her as her keen demon nose picked up a familiar scent, a mixture of several interesting smells: cigarettes, car grease and spearmint. The very presence of Kouga's scent set Ayame at ease and she took a deep breath, smiling slightly at her reflection. Tonight, she could forget about the world and it's problems, if only to think about herself and Kouga. Tonight, she was free from the Wildcats and the races, Naraku and his evil plans, broken down cars and heavyweight mods. Tonight, she could forget about everything.

Ayame turned as the doorbell rung and, before her friends could stop her, she'd flown out the door and down the impressive staircase, throwing the double doors wide to reveal Kouga's warm smile. He wore regular jeans and a black t-shirt with his Fang's jacket, nothing spactacular, but he looked comfortable and relaxed. His demeanor made Ayame want to feel the same and, before she could catch herself staring, she decided to say the first words.

"Hey Ko," she greeted cheerfully.

Kouga was stunned to see his friend of nearly ten years, that helpful, intelligent Ayame Saitou girl, looking more dolled up than he'd ever seen her. A quick olfactory inspection proved his suspicions true; she was wearing make-up. He knew she hated make-up, as they'd talked about it many times before, but yet she was wearing quite a bit of it. That didn't stop her from being any more beautiful.

"Aya," he breathed cooly. "You're looking gorgeous tonight." The compliment caught the redhead off guard and she blushed, earning a wolfish grin from Kouga. She was positively adorable when she blushed. "You ready to go?" he asked, hefting his motorcycle keys and gesturing to the Yamaha. "Your carriage awaits."

Ayame's eyes sparkled as she prepared to rush out the door when a voice cried out, "Ayame! Wait!"

Spinning about on her heels and trying to appear collected, Ayame observed Rin with slight irritation. "Uhuh," she asked noncomitally, observing Rin with confusion. She hadn't expected her friend to come downstairs.

Rin held Ayame's white Wildcat's jacket aloft, saying breathlessly, "You almost forgot your jacket."

At the sight of her jacket, her one constant reminder of the Wildcats and her own responsibilities, Ayame's face fell. It wouldn't have been noticeable had Kouga not known her so well, yet the tightening of her lips, the dull quality of her eyes...these symptoms said it all. Reaching out with one clawed hand, the girl snatched the jacket curtly away, thanking Rin with a nod of her head. Every single gang member wore their jackets when they went out, rain or shine, hot or cold, on their leaders' orders. The gang members knew that their jackets offered protection; kill one gang member, fight fifty angry friends for free. Yet Ayame would've gladly given up her constant protection just to forget her duties as the Wildcat's second in command.

"Have a good time," Kagome called warmly, appearing over Rin's shoulder as Kouga ushered Ayame towards the bike. Even Ayame couldn't help but smile as Kagome waved; the girl was so kind, it was hard not to smile. Sango just gave the redhead a satisfied nod; that was all Ayame ever needed in the first place.

The mansion doors shut with an echo of stark finality and Ayame sighed peacefully; alone with Kouga at last. The boy smirked, a grin which reached all the way up to his ice blue eyes, as he handed his date a visored helmet. His helmet.

Again, Ayame's smile fell. "Your helmet? No, Kouga, you can't, I can go witho-"

"Don't even think about it," Kouga interrupted gruffly. "If fer some fucked up reason we crash, you won't be the one dyin'."

His words were cryptic, yet they hit home with a painful smack. Ayame was used to his cynicism and only smiled; it was his way of showing affection. "Thanks," she said quietly, letting the subject drop at that. She knew better than to argue and Kouga knew better than to push.

Ayame climbed on the back of the bike behind Kouga, wrapping her arms securely around his waist and knotting her hands. She could feel his rippling muscles beneath her hands and she nearly moaned; that was, without a doubt, quite the turn on. Kouga smirked to himself as he smelled a spike in Ayame's scent; she was excited, almost aroused by something. Feeling her grip resettling on his stomach, he continued to grin and revved the motorcycle's engine. So she liked his body, did she? In that case, he was going to take the long way to the pier; that should give her enough time to become properly aroused.

Yet as he pulled on to the road and felt her presence surround him, arousal was suddenly the last thing on his mind. He could feel Ayame's head resting against his back, the warmth of her body against his. In that moment, he noticed just how small Ayame was compared to him. He was a good six feet while she stood at only about 5'6. Six inches could determine the winner of a bar fight, couldn't it? What if something were to happen to Ayame? What if some Northern punk tried to mug her or something? Just imagining these scenarios caused the hairs on Kouga's neck to stand on end. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to protect her.

The pair arrived at the pier as the sun sank lower in the sky, almost at the horizon. Kouga parked the bike and Ayame dismounted, albeit reluctantly, before locking the helmet to the motorcycle. She had to admit that, after all the rides she'd taken on a motorcycle, that one topped them all. She turned to find Kouga grinning at her, that smile she'd learned to love, and he jerked his head towards the pier.

"C'mon, I know you wanna hot dog," he said smugly.

Ayame smirked and rolled her eyes, "Oh boy, how'd you know? I crave hotdogs," Yet her sarcasm meant nothing when her stomach gave a discontented rumble. Maybe she was a bit hungry.

As thought this answered all his questions, Kouga placed his hand on the small of Ayame's back and ushered her towards the pier, their footsteps creating a comfortable rythym on the wooden planks. Shuddering pleasantly at the contact, Ayame felt that familiar sanctity surround her and she knew she was safe. Not that anything bad might happen at the boardwalk, but now she knew that, despite hurricanes and gunfire, Kouga wouldn't let the world harm a hair on her head.

The two walked up to a hot dog stand and got a hot dog for each of them, thanking the vendor before walking down the pier steps towards the beach. There was barely anyone out, as most were hitting up downtown Tokyo for clubbing and rowdy partying. The beach wasn't popular after dark and the last of the crowd was beginning to dwindle.

Ayame sighed and threw her hot dog container into the nearest trashcan, reaching into her pocket for a stick of gum. She offered one to Kouga, who accepted it gratefully; hotdogs were wonderful, but they left a peculiar aftertaste. Ayame kicked off her sandals and held them in her hand, sinking her feet deep in the sand as it rushed between her toes. There was hardly a more satisfying feeling than the beach on your feet, she'd decided, and she continued walking barefoot.

"I'd forgotten how pretty the beach was," she commented, glancing at the sun as it begun setting, casting orages and reds across the rippling waters.

"Yeah," Kouga murmured in agreement, placing his hands comfortably in his jean pockets. "I come here to think sometimes."

Ayame clasped her hands thoughtfully behind her back. "About what?"

Kouga shrugged. "Everything and nothing, I guess. I think about racing, about the guys and all their shit, sometimes I think about you girls and your shit. Other times I think about life before and after the Fangs. Ya know?" His ponytail blew slightly in the ocean breeze as his ice blue eyes turned skyward.

Observing the boy carefully, Ayame replied, "I know what you mean. Sometimes I..." Almost startled by her own thoughts, Ayame trailed off and averted her eyes to the sand. "Nevermind."

Yet Kouga wouldn't leave this unfinished. "You can tell me, Aya," he said reasurringly, knowing she had something to get out. The gangs offered protection, they offered family, but sometimes even brothers and sisters couldn't share things. Everyone needed a friend. Or a lover.

"Well," Ayame continued unsurely. "Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I weren't in the Wildcats. Like, what if I was...a cheerleader or something?" she blurted out, confessing her darkest secret in a mere two sentences.

Kouga took it in stride with a hint of relief. "I think about that too," he conceeded. "Don't get me wrong, I love the Fangs and all that crap, but...I could've taken other roads and I didn't."

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't joined," Ayame muttered quietly, eyes slightly downcast. "It's like I have two people inside of me. Good Ayame and Bad Ayame. Bad Ayame wants to go race and win, the beat the crap out of Kagura and her Vixens, to drink and cuss and spit and smoke. Then Good Ayame wants to go be a big sister to her siblings or bake a cake or watch movies at night with someone who cares. And a lot of the times, I wish I was Good Ayame, just for a minute. She used to come out when I wasn't working but...now I'm Bad Ayame all the time. That must sound pretty stupid, huh?"

Glancing over at the girl, Kouga gauged her silently, watching her sad green eyes becoming oddly bright as they observed the sunset. "I only know one Ayame," he said in a softer tone...one reserved only for her. When she only turned to face him, face confused, he continued. "She races and wins and beats the crap outta the Vixens. She drinks sometimes and smokes sometimes, not a lot though. She cusses a lot, but I cuss more. I think she might spit more than I do, though." At this Ayame chuckled almost brokenly, yet he kept speaking. "She's still a sister to all her siblings and she cooks whenever she can, which is never often enough, cause she's a fucking good cook. The only thing my Ayame ain't got that yours wants is that 'someone who cares' to watch movies with. And she oughta know that there's a guy who's wanted to be that 'someone who cares' for a fucking long time. He works with her everday and they laugh and talk cause they've known each other too long not to. And...he always wishes he could do more for her. But he ain't a superhero. He's just a guy. Just some guy."

Ayame could barely even speak as a strange warmth spread throughout her body, tingling her fingertips and jostling her stomach. She knew the underlying meaning of Kouga's words, could hear his uncertainty and his sadness, yet she could barely trust her own ears. She could swear he'd just confessed his feelings for her, in an indirect and Kouga like way. _And she oughta know that there's a guy who's wanted to be that someone who cares for a fucking long time...and he always wishes he could do more for her...he's just some guy._

But he wasn't just some guy to Ayame. This was Kouga, her friend, her companion, the boy she'd had a crush on for years now. True, she'd never had the courage to confess her feelings for him, but she always figured some prettier, wittier girl would win his heart. What was the point in trying when there were people like Kikyo in this world? It just seemed pointelss. But now...now it seemed anything but pointless.

"Kouga..." she mumbled, startled into silence by his words. "He's not just some guy to me. He never was. He was always..the most precious friend I had. My most precious...anything."

She stopped walking, not trusting her feet to carry her farther, and Kouga stopped, turning to stand before her. They were face to face, eye to eye, and Ayame felt her breath escape in a steady stream. The way he was looking at her, ice blue eyes the color of a frozen pond in winter...it sent chills down her spine despite the warm ocean wind.

Before Kouga could think about the moment, he found his eyes drawn to her lips, slightly parted and the pretty pink of the sunset behind her. The way the light caught her face was positively breathtaking and he wasn't about to let her get away. Without another thought, Kouga leaned forward, claiming her mouth with his. Ayame gasped slightly, suddenly realizing that Kouga was kissing her, Ayame Saitou, the girl who found herself boring and plain. But she could tell from his kiss that he wasn't just playing with her. No, it wasn't that kind of kiss. This kiss was sheer beauty. Raw passion.

She savored the sweetness of his lips on hers, the minty taste of his mouth, the warmth of his arms as he snaked them around her waist. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the space between them as molten gold filled her entire body to her core. Kissing was truly everything romance novels claimed, that exploding firework, the delicate budding of a rose; any cliche she'd ever heard was suddenly coming true. Despite that fact, she was sharing her first kiss with her longtime crush, barefoot on the beach with the sunset to light their way. That was, in and of itself, a culmination of the most overused cliches in the world to date, but she could've cared less. She was happier than she'd ever been.

Kouga just couldn't believe how amazing Ayame tasted. Most of the time, guys claimed lame things like _she tasted like strawberries, _but Ayame's taste was entirely original. Cinammon, sugar and the crisp sensation of ice surrounded his tongue as she granted him entrance and he moaned slightly. He's kissed girls before, but it was nothing like this. Nothing like his Ayame.

When they finally broke apart, gasping for breath, Kouga and Ayame met each others eyes with a hint of surprise and delight. As Kouga assessed Ayame's wild green gaze, overcome with a beautiful sparkling happiness, he felt a surge of affection for his lifelong friend. Yet it wasn't just a friendship sort of emotion; it went much deeper than that and both wolves knew it.

Kouga leaned down and kissed Ayame's forehead, earning a contented sigh from the girl as he held her closely. After these past few months of endless chaos, floating in a purgatory where there was nothing to hold on to, he was afraid to let her escape his grasp, as though she were an illusion. Ayame rested her head against Kouga's chest and, after a moment, she could hear his heart beat. Despite their kiss, his heart was thumping slowly and rythymically, one constant in Ayame's world that could never be changed.

Neither was sure how long they stood there, but Kouga's ears perked up at the low belch of a coast guard ship. He suddenly became aware of the darkness surrounding them, the lights from the pier sending strange, dancing creatures across the waves below. He chuckled, realizing just how much time had passed since their first kiss, and he glanced down at Ayame's softly smiling face.

"It's dark," he pointed out astutely.

Ayame giggled. "So it is."

Without removing his arm from around her waist, Kouga helped Ayame up the sand banks to the boardwalk and together they approached the motorcycle. It was one of three vehicles in the parking lot, the other two belonging to the security men. Though the pier's lights shone in the darkness, the ferris wheel a great shining firework against the dark summer sky, the carnival was closed and no one lingered at the beach.

Ayame donned her helmet and retook her position behind Kouga on the motorcycle, leaning against him as he rode calmly out of the parking lot onto the street. The ride home was quicker than Ayame might've liked, yet she enjoyed it all the same. Kouga pulled up in front of Rin's house on Ayame's request, riding inside the gates as the butler opened them for the pair. After parking the motorcyle, Kouga dismounted and helped Ayame slide off as well, depositing the helmet on the handlebars.

As Kouga wrapped his arms around her waist, Ayame couldn't help but feel a strange sort of fear. The entire ride home, she'd been puzzling over one certain question, one which plagued the mind of every female on the planet after their very first date. Exactly how far would this go? She didn't want to pressure him into asking her out, but she also didn't want to wait while he tried to decode her feelings. Wouldn't it be easier if she just...

"Aya?"

Blinking, Ayame refocused her gaze on Kouga's confused face, giggling slightly as his head cocked to the side in an animalistic gesture. "Sorry, just thinking."

"About..." he trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the blink.

The girl bit her lip momentarily, completely oblivious to Kouga's growing desire to kiss her, and finally asked rather tentatively, "What are we now?"

Without hardly missing a beat, Kouiga let loose a low chuckle and replied, "Isn't it obvious? You're my girlfriend and if anyone even thinks about touchin' ya, I'll rip 'im to shreds."

While most girls would have found this possessive and slightly creepy, Ayame was flattered beyond all comprehensible reason. Her eyes glowed as her smile simultaneously began to grow. "Really!" she asked, voice high pitched in her excitement.

"Of course," Kouga replied huskily, leaning down and silencing her delighted laughter with a soft kiss. Unlike their first kiss, this one was more about enjoying each other's company and celebrating their time together than the heated passion of desire.

When they finally broke apart, Kouga smirked and rested his forehead against hers. "We've got an audience."

Without even straining her ears, Ayame could hear the high pitched squeals from her friends on the second floor. She scowled slightly, rolling her eyes. "Now I'm going to have to go upstairs and tell them all the ridiculous details. Ugh, sometimes I hate being a girl."

At this, Kouga only smiled, a wild, wicked smile with always made Ayame weak in the knees. "You ain't just a girl, baby. You're a woman. My woman."

Her heart warmed at these words, which were just Kouga's way of showing deep affection for someone, and she smiled, leaning up to place a goodnight kiss on his lips. "And you're my man. So if you see me beating up some poor Vixen girl, it's probably because she was oogling your ass or something."

Kouga laughed, a rich rumbling sound which Ayame had grown to love. "That would turn me on, I think. To see you beat up some chick for me."

With her own wicked smile, Ayame leaned up on her toes until her lips were barely touching his ear lobe. "I think it would turn me on, too."

Just hearing these words escape Ayame's mouth provoked a grown from Kouga's mouth and he leaned his forehead against Ayame's shoulder. "Damn, woman. Now I'm gonna have to take a long, cold shower."

Ayame was pleased at the reaction she'd elicited from Kouga and she smiled mysteriously, kissing his lips briefly before breakiing away. "You do that, babe. I'll see you bright and early, elbow deep in grease."

And with that, Ayame turned on her heels, walking up the stairs with a decided shake of her ass. Kouga couldn't help but follow the seat of Ayame's pants with his eyes as she swayed up the stairs, turning to observe him lovingly before closing the door shut behind her. After releasing a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, Kouga sighed and smiled up at the starry sky. Perhaps there was some sort of higher power.

The boy put on his helmet, smiling as Ayame's scent flooded his nostrils, and he revved the engine, bound for one place: Sesshomaru's house.

Sesshomaru sat on his house's porch swing, looking up at the flawless night sky while nursing a cigarette between his lips. He'd always been a night lover and couldn't help but find something extrodinary in darkness that just wasn't there in light. It was as though he could hide at night, though this idea was proposterous. He knew he couldn't really hide, but it was enough to make believe, wasn't it?

The Fang leader was startled from his thoughts by the familiar roar of Kouga's Yamaha motorcycle and he turned, glancing down the street at a fast approaching headlight. The motorcycle in question pulled to a stop at the curb and the rider killed the engine, dismounting and tossing his helmet carelessly on the grass. Kouga jogged up to the porch, jacket slung over his shoulder and eyes alight with happiness.

Sesshomaru just gave a small smile. "How did it go?"

His best friend chuckled, leaning against the porch column as he fished for a box of cigarettes in his pocket. "Better than expected. We're officially going out, though titles never meant anything to me anyway."

"They mean something to women, though," Sesshomaru pointed out.

Kouga snorted. "Well yeah, but that's cause women give a damn about what other people think. It's enough for us to just be happy, you know? Guys are so much easier to please than girls."

This only provoked a wry smile from Sesshomaru as he puffed out perfect smoke rings, watching them fade in the darkness. "Try pleasing a hundred testosterone charged men on motorcycles and get back to me. We're not the fucking saints you think we are."

Shrugging Kouga took a seat next to his friend, catching the swing in mid cycle and sliding smoothy into the rythym. "Yeah, we're probably not. Hell, I know I ain't perfect. But Aya...she comes pretty damn close."

Sesshomaru nodded sagely. "I feel the same about Rin."

The two dissolved into a friendly silence, a moment perfected by their years of companionship. There were so many things to say, yet they knew and understood that nothing was that important. Without even bothering to speak, they knew the other agreed and that had to count for something. Both were struck by a strange infinince in that moment and savored it's sweet, never ending flavor. Ah, to be infinite...

"When did we get so soft?" Kouga murmured, half to himself and half to his friend.

Sighing, Sesshomaru snubbed out his cigarette on the swing arm and replied, "I like to think that we're not getting softer, but the world's getting harder. It preserves my pride."

"And that's what it's all about," Kouga replied with a light joking quality to his voice.

"Right," Sesshomaru agreed quietly. "That's what it's all about."

**Another chapter under my belt. I hope you guys enjoyed it. The next installment is easier to write, so I should have it within the next week. Be prepared, bwahah!**

**KOLU**


	8. Cool Rider

**Thanks so much to all my reviewers; this story is my pride and joy, but it's becoming steadily harder to write, lol. I have it planned out several chapters in advance, but planning it and writing it are two very separate things. Thanks to everyone for being so patient. I'm getting lots of positive feedback and it certainly puts a little gasoline in the tank, if you know what I mean. Lol.**

"106 degrees and climbing," Miroku sighed, peering at the thermometer with weary eyes.

General murmurs of discontent followed this announcement and Ranbou threw down his grease rag, snarling viciously at the heat. "God damn it, how are we supposed to get anything done when we're livin' in a fuckin' boiler oven!"

This only provoked a chuckle from Kouga, who replied, "Strip naked and deal with it."

"What do you say, my fair Sango? How does stripping naked sound?" Miroku asked with a lustful gaze, which directed itself pointedly at Sango's chest.

Sango, who'd been working along on a Reikon's Ford Escape, raised an unimpressed eyebrow and leaned back against the car's driver side, crossing her arms in an irritated gesture. "Not really my cup of tea." Miroku just grinned and reach down for the hem of his own shirt, ripping it off and twirling it comically around his head. "If you remove one more piece of clothing, I'll make sure you never have children. Ever," Sango said flatly.

At Sango's insinuation, Miroku's helicopter motion stopped abruptly and the shirt fell limply to his side. "You hurt me, Sango," Miroku said with a pathetically fake pout.

Yet Sango didn't respond, and only turned back to the car's hood, examining the spaghetti mess of parts inside. Over in Inuyasha's corner, he and Kagome were working on someone's disagreeable Jeep. The hanyou held out his hand, saying gruffly, "5mm wrench."

Kagome selected the said wrench from Inuyasha's tool box and smacked it down in his palm, glancing up at the ceiling and wiping her brow. Somehow, it seemed to get hotter every second inside the warehouse, despite the air circulating from outside. Kagome was perched on the Jeep's roll over bar, looking down on Inuyasha as he re-attached the dashboard with a set of newer screws.

"Is this what you guys do every day? Work on cars?" she asked curiously.

With a slight grunt, Inuyasha finished tightening the bolt and replied gruffly, "Yep. You gotta problem with that?"

The girl only shrugged. "No. I like it, I was just wondering. I always thought there was...more to a gang. You know?"

"What, you mean like cruising around picking up girls? And spray painting shit?" Inuyasha asked, trying to conceal a grin when she appeared surprised by his astute guess.

After a moment, Kagome replied dully, "Well, something like that."

The white haired boy laughed, reaching back to lift his hair off his neck. "You ain't alone. " His smile faded as he tried in vain to arrange his hair comfortably. After a moment, Kagome hopped down into the front seat next to Inuyasha, gathering his thick hair back in her hands. By use of a rubber band on her wrist, the girl managed to constrain the hair in a high ponytail, keeping it, for the most part, out of Inuyasha's way.

"Thanks," he murmured, turning away to hide his blush as he grabbed for another wrench.

"No problem," Kagome replied noncomitally, returning to her perch on the roll bar.

As she sat there, dressed in her sports bra and baggy jeans, Inuyasha couldn't help but find her oddly beautiful. Certainly, he'd thought Kikyo was great looking, but Kagome had a softer quality to her features. Hell, she was softer in mind, body and soul than Kikyo, yet there weren't many girls who weren't. Kikyo had been through some hard times in her life, harder than any 17 year old should ever have to endure, and she now paid the price with her bitterness.

"Inuyasha...?" Kagome asked tentatively, observing the boy as he remained frozen in the passenger's seat, wrench in hand.

Snapping out of his stupor, Inuyasha growled rather angrily, "What!"

His response startled Kagome and she lowered her gaze slightly, muttering, "Nothing, sorry."

Inuyasha's gaze softened and he was about to say something when a screech interrupted the warehouse peace, followed by the mighty clap of palm on cheek. Everyone whipped around at the noise, shaking their heads as Miroku fell to the ground with the force of Sango's hit; would he never learn? Sango appeared absolutely livid, her pretty face red with indignation and fists clenched tightly at her sides.

"Damn pervert! Did you not hear me the first three thousand times I told you NOT TO TOUCH ME!" She wailed.

Miroku sat up slightly, rubbing his sore cheek while responding lightly, "But my dear Sango, I am only human and the temptation is simply too great when I'm with you. Oh your beautiful body..."

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, for Sango let out an unearthly scream. All demons in the surrounding area clamped the hands furiously to their ears, gritting their teeth through the moment; what a voice that girl had! Finally, she broke her bellow just long enough to say, "Then maybe I just won't 'be with you' anymore, if you can't control yourself! Go dishonor someone else with your fucking hands!"

And with this, Sango turned on her heels and stormed angrily out of the warehouse, bound for god knows where. All was silent as Miroku digested Sango's words and the others exchanged frightened glances. Never before had Sango become so enraged over Miroku's perverted tendencies. Before, a good slap to the face and an angry word seemed to satisfy her, but...not this time. Even the way she'd phrased her accusation, by use of the word "dishonor," seemed sadly condemning. Sitting, stunned, on the ground, Miroku suddenly felt very small and pathetic, even worthless. Did he truly "dishonor" her with his touch? Was he that...repulsive?

A clawed hand appeared before his face, offering Miroku help to his feet, and he took it numbly, dusting himself off with mechanical arms. Inuyasha sighed a little, crossing his arms and observing his friend critically. "You knew she wouldn't take it forever, Roku," he said wisely.

"Yeah," came Miroku's low reply. "But I didn't think she'd get fed up so soon. I'm not ready yet."

By this time, most had returned to work, deciding to give the boy time to think, while Sesshomaru and Kouga joined their two friends to discuss the recent uproar. Kouga saddled up beside Inuyasha, observing Miroku with a confused glance. "Not ready? Fer what?"

Miroku grew slightly red in the face and looked away from his friends' questioning eyes, appearing as though he couldn't answer the question. Yet a ghost of a smile fleeted across Sesshomaru's face as he answered the wolf demon's question. "Not ready to take their relationship to the next level. He was safe on this superficial level, groping her and receiving a slap or two. But now...he knows he'll have to make his move. Isn't that right, Miroku?"

When the boy glanced up and met Sesshomaru's eyes ashamedly, looking for all the world like a lost puppy, Inuyasha let out a barking laugh. "Gods, Miroku, she's got you whipped."

Rolling his eyes slightly, Kouga slapped a hand over Inuyasha's mouth and said wryly, "Ignore him. Look, Roku, if there's one thing you gotta learn, it's this: women want the truth. They want something real, something constant. So you gotta tell Sango the truth, whatever that is. The way you feel about her, or whatever. Grabbin' her ass isn't gonna get you where you wanna go. I know I'd never lie to Ayame unless I thought she'd get killed over it. I bet Shomo doesn't lie to Rin without good reason either."

Sesshomaru nodded sagely, interjecting, "You can't lie to women without the perfect poker face. Women's intuition isn't just a wive's tale; they'll know just by looking in your eyes. Trust me. I decided to test the theory with Rin."

Snorting, Inuyasha replied, "You mean when you told her you liked her new convertible and she was all, 'Sesshomaru, don't lie to me.'"

Fixing his brother with a pointed glare, Sesshomaru replied stiffly, "Among other things."

Seeing an argument about to start, Kouga interrupted swiftly, reitterating, "But you gotta tell Sango how you feel. So you better go now."

Miroku looked from one friend to another and finally sighed, as though accepting the inevitable. "I guess you're right. I'll be back in 5."

Walking almost casually out of the warehouse, Miroku glanced up at the flawless blue sky, frowning slightly. If only he could be that flawless, especially with Sango, yet he knew perfection was not inside the realm of men. Instead, his life was a constant journey towards it. Perfection was unattainable, yet constantly hoped for...just like Sango. He spotted her quickly, sitting on the roof of her car with a look of indifference. The warm summer breeze blew her hair back in a gust and, in that moment, lips pouted and eyes half hooded, she was the most beautiful creature Miroku had ever seen. Before, he'd been adding in the Miss America Winner of 1998, but now Sango surpassed even her.

Gulping loudly, Miroku walked steadily towards the girl of his dreams, bent on apologizing without a slip up. His footsteps were loud on the gravel and Sango heard him before she saw him. Sighing, she glanced his direction and raised one slender eyebrow irritatedly. "You know, normally girls storm out of rooms hoping they won't be followed."

This only provoked a slight chuckle from Miroku. "Sango, with all due respect, I will always follow you if I think you're upset."

Sango said nothing to this, for she really didn't know _what _to say, and only observed him with a softer gaze. When she remained silent, Miroku put his hands in his pockets and shrugged his bare shoulders nervously. "I...came out to say I'm sorry for...dishonoring you. By groping you, I mean. I know it's wrong, but I do it..." for a minute, Sango didn't believe he would finish, but he soon picked back up. "I do it because...because I want to be closer to you. And I don't know another way to do it without telling you...something that might scare you away. About how I like you. About how I've always...liked you. As more than a friend. "

Blinking, Sango processed this confession slowly before realizing how much pride Miroku had sacrificed for this moment. Despite his calm nature, Miroku was still a Fang and, therefore, couldn't stand to lose. By admitting his feelings, he was almost losing the neverending battle between them, a skirmish of wit and illegitimate touching. So, as she was now the victor, what should Sango do? Technically, she could simply deny him and thusly end the battle. But something within her just couldn't do it. What would life be without Miroku, constantly at her side, making her feel better about herself despite his flaws? She wasn't perfect, so how could she judge him on something such as that? Really, there was only one thing to do.

"I forgive you Miroku," she said finally, tone somewhat uplifted and eyes shining. "It's hard to stay mad at you when you say shit like that."

Inside the warehouse, Kouga had paused in his work to observe the goings on outside. His face held an almost whimsical expression as he watched Miroku expressing his feelings, finally evoking a passive smile from Sango. It seemed as though everything was going to work out and, as long as his friends were happy, Kouga was too. A slender pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his waist and Kouga smiled slightly, taking in the beautiful scent of his girlfriend. Ayame perched her chin on his shoulder and sighed contentedly, pressing herself up against his back.

"I'm glad he apologized," she said quietly.

Kouga chuckled, which sent rumbling tremors throughout Ayame's body. "Yeah, me too. He always comes realy close and then covers it up with another perverted remark, you know? It was starting to piss me off."

"At least he wasn't manhandling your ass, too," Ayame pointed out, voice holding a note of humor.

Kouga rolled his eyes plantively. "Thank God for that."

Moments later, Miroku and Sango came waltzing back into the warehouse, talking and laughing like old friends, argument seemingly forgotten. Sesshomaru raised his gaze from his seat in the lounge area, looking less like a gang leader and more like a peaceful father. Being a dog demon, he had rather weak eyes and was often forced to wear reading glasses; in conjunction with the newspaper he held, Sesshomaru gave of a very sophisticated air. If he hadn't be shirtless, he might've passed for a businessman, yet Rin wouldn't have enjoyed that sight nearly as much.

"Miroku finally scored a point in that battle, I believe," he said dully, returning his eyes to the newspaper.

Rin, who was fanning herself with a small stack of old revenue records, replied breathlessly, "So now it's only three hundred to one."

"Yo, Shomo."

Turning to face the voice, Sesshomaru observed Ranbou as he reached down into the refrigerator and retrieved a cold beer. The wolf demon popped the top and downed almost half the bottle, licking his lips and returning his eyes to the Fang leader. "What are we gonna do about Naraku's shit at the race tonight?"

The question provoked a frown from Sesshomaru, who set down his recently forgotten paper and removed his glasses. "We'll do what we always do. Race to win."

As though this were an idiotic answer, Ranbou pressed, "But you know everyone's gonna wanna start shit over his little territory proposal. What'll we do about that, huh?"

Rin and Sesshomaru exchanged glances, as though wondering what the other thought, yet neither had a clue about the solution. What kind of trouble awaited them at the race that night? They couldn't very well forbid their friends from fighting the North, especially after this wicked proposal from Naraku. The other Northern gangs seemed slightly less inclined to grab for territory, but they all followed Naraku shamelessly, so his numbers would never be less than two hundred. Though there might've been a strategy in all of this, Rin and Sesshomaru couldn't seem to find it.

Finally, Sesshomaru replied quietly, "Whatever happens, happens. 'We' have absolutely no control over that."

Blinking slightly, Ranbou clutched his beer bottle tightly and looked away from his friend's piercing gaze. As much as the wolf hated to admit it, the Fang leader was right. For once, the gangs were helpless puppets attached to fate's strings. For once, they had no power. And this didn't bode well.

"God damn South! Go play in someone else's streets!"

"Yeah? Shut up, motherfuckin' North scum, go suck someone's dick off or something!"

"You bitches suck off, we swallow whole!"

"No wonder you're such a fatass! You're all full o' cock!"

Sesshomaru massaged his temples wearily, sighing as this pointless banter continued between two gang members on either side of the street. This was just one example of the conversations going on that night, turning the normally heart lifting races into a sinful aired debauchery of gang life. Even the leaders weren't used to this kind of disgusting rivalry and they were tiring of it quickly; if only these races could just be over with.

Rin shook her head slowly, wind blowing across her face as the warm night breeze came rolling down the street. The streetlights caught the face of several angry gang members, all of them shaking their fists at their enemies. If the North and South were bad before, now the competition was even worse. Crossing her small arms over her barely clad chest, Rin adjusted her red bikini strap absentmindedly.

"This is getting ridiculous, Sesshomaru," she said.

Gazing out at his angry friends, all of whom were leaning over the fences into the street, screaming obscenities at the equally riled Northerners, Sesshomaru simply reached into his pocket and lit a cigarette."Well, baby, if you can find us an alternative, please let me know."

Rin snorted, leather clad hips switching moodily to the side. "Yeah, right. This is a full on war, Sessh. I'm almost freaked out about the noise we're making, though. Aren't we going to attract cops at this rate?"

Sesshomaru shrugged menially, cigarette smoke drifting lazily into the dark sky and casting strange shadows on his face. "They never caught us before."

"Still..." Rin trailed off blankly. She glanced nervously down the street, as though expecting a cop car to appear any moment. "Shouldn't we try to get this under control, even if it's only a little bit?"

Smoke curled out his mouth and nose as Sesshomaru replied easily, "We only have one race left, Rin, calm down. After this, I'll take you out to dinner."

At the sound of this suggestion, Rin couldn't help but smile peacefully. "Alright, I trust you."

These words set down a weight on Sesshomaru's shoulders, though he showed no evidence of this fact. Rin seemed to relax at the very sound of his confident assurance and he couldn't help but feel slightly unsettled. In an almost paranoid way, Rin had a very valid point. The gangs didn't normally make so much noise, but tonight they nearly casued a caucaphonus tornado of sounds. It wouldn't be unusual if someone nearby called the cops for, obviously, this night was getting slightly out of hand.

Kagome leaned over the fence slightly, ignoring the racous shouting of her friends as Inuyasha pulled up Sesshomaru's Saleen S7 up to the starting line. Stepping out of the car, he punched a single fist into the air, provoking screams of both praise and disapproval from the different sides. Kagome couldn't help but notice how handsome Inuyasha looked in his jeans and black wifebeater, accessorizing with his Fangs jacket as per usual. Since his Lamborghini Diablo wasn't anywhere near completion in the shop, Inuyasha was racing his brother's car to represent the Fangs. A loud roar was heard as another equally impressive car pulled up to the starting line. Akago stepped out of his vintage blue Ferrari, running a hand absently over the door top as he met eyes with Inuyasha.

The albino demon never removed his crimson gaze from Inuyasha as he said blankly, "See you at the finish line."

Inuyasha had fully prepared himself to say something nasty in return, but Akago's remark came out in a startlingly neutral way. The comment was hardly abbrasive of affrontive, not even rude, and Inuyasha barely knew how to respond. Finally, he narrowed his eyes and replied gruffly, "Yeah, the finish line."

After observing the interraction between the two racers, Kagome furrowed her brow and turned to Ranbou, who was smoking a cigarette to her right. "That was weird," she commented, shifting slightly in her red leather halter top, borrowed from Rin of course.

Ranbou shrugged, leaning more on the fence, which was now groaning beneath the strain of the many angry gang members. "Eh, Akago's never been as bad as Naraku of Ryuukoytsusei. He's leader cause he's smart, smart as hell." The wolf demon paused for a moment and then said, "You know, I always kinda thought he just sorta humored Naraku by following him or whatever. Kinda like he followed for a different reason. He doesn't seem like the kind that would need to lean on Naraku where his gang was concerned."

Following Ranbou's gaze to where Akago sat motionlessly in the front seat of his Ferrari, Kagome nodded a little. "I can kind of see what you mean just by looking at him. He seems...above all this."

Though many might've taken offense to Kagome's comment, which practically undermined the entirety of the gangs, Ranbou only smirked. "Yeah, I know."

Inuyasha focused his eyes on the finish line, which seemed ridiculously far away, and sat back against the driver's seat. If he didn't win this, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to anyone but him. Even with the competition that night, no one was focusing much on the races. Not but ten people could've named the racers or the outcomes, yet almost everyone could recall a nasty insult they'd paid their enemy. Yes, Inuyasha should've felt no pressure, but he was simply too proud. Even if no one noticed his loss, he would notice; besides all this, Akago was no push over behind the wheel. He was known to be the smartest racer in Tokyo, but Inuyasha wasn't afraid of him. He was simply afraid of losing period.

Kanna, who was showing off her ass...I mean assets...that night in a preciously tiny black mini skirt, sauntered out to stand between the two cars, fingering the race flag hungrily. She met eyes briefly with her brother Akago, who only nodded his head in acknowledgement, and she barely even flicked her gaze towards Inuyasha. The yelling never stopped as she brought the flag crashing down towards the pavement, but the sounds were soon drowned out by the squealing of tires.

Inuyasha gunned the Saleen and rocketed out in front, engine roaring lowly across the pavement. The car's power was incredible and the hanyou found himself thrown back against the seat as the throttle took control, sending both driver and car hurtling forwards along the track. Akago, more used to his vehicle, depressed the gas pedal only slightly at first, bringing it against the floor as the car responded to his touch. Combined with Inuyasha's more developed vehicle and Akago's superior handling, the two cars ran neck and neck out of the startling line.

Glancing over at the other rider, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and set them firmly on the road ahead of him, glancing at the speedometer briefly; 143 and climbing. For a moment, both drivers were caught in a moment where the winner was uncertain, but Akago began making his move. Slowly but surely, the Shark leader took another stab at his gas pedal and brought the Ferrari a nose ahead of the Saleen.

Inuyasha felt a lurch in his stomach as Akago's car pulled in front of his and, suddenly, his shock of Taisho instinct took over. Glancing down at the stick shift, Inuyasha grabbed it and double clutched into fifth, closing his eyes momentarily as the engine gave a rumble. Without warning, the car propelled forward at an amazing speed, as though pushed by a giant, and pulled just barely ahead of Akago's car. At the finish line, the difference between the cars was barely even noticeable, yet the evidence was there: Inuyasha had won.

The two racers pulled their cars back to the starting line, where Sesshomaru was waiting with a satisfied smirk on his face. Those who'd stopped their shouting to congratulate the winner yelled encouragement as Inuyasha stepped proudly out of the Saleen, glancing at the crowd. His eyes locked on Kagome, who was grinning and clapping enthusiastically next to Ranbou. The corner of his mouth were just turning up in a smile when a piercing wail hit the air, undulating up and down at a foreboding pitch. All movement and sound stopped as the gangs whipped around to face the source of the commotion.

A black and white cop car turned the corner nearly a mile down the street, far away, yet so frighteningly close. Leaping into action, Sesshomaru shouted, "Cops! Go, go, go!"

There was a sudden flurry of action as everyone snapped back to life, screaming and sprinting for the nearest vehicle. Inuyasha managed to lean over and grab Kagome by the arm, shouting, "Get in!"

Kagome, who could've frozen dead on the spot, was able to throw herself into the passenger's seat, slamming the door as Inuyasha screamed for Sesshomaru. His brother, who was ushering all his gang members back to the cars with great urgency, heard his name and yelled, "Go on!" before continuing on in his work. Never before had Kagome seen such utter chaos, bodies flying this way and that, people splayed out on the ground as they found themselves trampled beneath the excitement. Though Kagome had almost been under the impression that the gangs feared nothing, she realized now that _everyone _feared the cops.

Rin was struggling against a steady flow of bodies, trying desperately to reach her boyfriend. "Sesshomaru!" she cried, throwing her hand forward.

Upon hearing his girlfriend scream his name, Sesshomaru looked quickly around and saw Miroku hurrying Sango to the car. Without another thought, Sesshomaru darted forward and grabbed Rin around the waist, practically picking her up and throwing her towards Miroku. "Take her!" he yelled, nodding in Miroku's direction.

Rin gasped. "Sesshomaru! No, come with us!"

"I can't!" came his reply as the sirens neared. "I have to get the others out, go on!"

Miroku grabbed Rin as she lurched forward, trying to hurry after the Fang leader, but the boy held fast."Rin, leave him, c'mon!" Even as Rin screamed, Miroku dragged her backwards and threw her inside the car, heart practically breaking as he recalled the desperation on the girl's face. She wanted so badly to stay with Sesshomaru, but she knew the duties of a gang leader. It was as though they could look but never quite touch each other. The distance between them was incredible in that moment.

Cars began zooming out of the area, motorcycles darting behind buildings and taking more secretive ways out. Ranbou slammed on his helmet and yelled out to Kouga, who was helping Sesshomaru guide people to open car seats. When his younger brother turned to meet his gaze, Ranbou yelled, "Help me distract 'em!"

The youngest Ookami nodded curtly and sprinted towards his own motorcycle, which was parked on the opposing street side. He too donned his helmet and, revving the engine, the brothers went out to meet the ever growing entourage of cop cars. At first, there had only been one; now there were nearly ten, all of them speeding down the road towards the dispersing gang members.

Kouga sped out in front of the approaching cop cars, popping a wheelie and threatening to ride straight towards them. The front line of Crown Victorias came to an abrupt halt and prepared to take a byline around the boy, yet Ranbou blocked them off. Glad that his motorcycle was working, for once, Ranbou gunned the throttle and took a straight diagonal path off to Kouga's left, blocking off the other cop cars. Soon, cops were parking their vehicles and climbing out, guns at the ready as they prepared to do battle with the street gangs, the ever present thorn in the police department's side.

Sesshomaru had just ushered one of the last lone gang members to a car when he heard the frightening screech of tires. Seemingly out of no where, another group of cop cars came down the other side of the street, heading straight for the Fang leader. In that moment, Sesshomaru knew true fear as he almost faced what could've been a six month jail sentence and his breath escaped in a woosh. Rin's face ran fleetingly through his mind and he felt a desperate cold at the thought of never holding her again. Before he could get himself together, more cop cars had joined the melee and he was backed up against a nearby brick wall, cars blocking his exit from every direction.

The policemen were just getting ready to shine their lights on Sesshomaru, unpocketing their guns from the holsters, when another more ominous roar sounded throughout the street. A loud and wild yell tore through the night as a crimson red motorcycle rocketed through the center of the chaos, handeled by a rogue rider with a feminine body. The mysterious rider took a sharp corner on their back wheel, whirling to face the brunt of the cop force, and revved the engine bravely; they were going to charge.

Kouga paused momentarily, noticing how the cops' attention shifted quickly to the crimson motorcycle, and nodded to his brother, who was watching with rapt attention.

Kouga yelled, "Meet me at our home away from home!" code for the warehouse.

It was then that Ranbou noticed Sesshomaru running silently and swiftly towards Kouga's motorcycle, preparing to hop on and hurry away. With the police's attention focused on the renegade rider, the Fang leader had an easy time slipping away. After hopping on the back of Kouga's motorcycle, Sesshomaru dared one last look at the mysterious red rider, whose entire head, hair and all, was hidden beneath the confines of a helmet. Who were they and why was their riding so familiar? Furthermore, why was that _motorcycle _so familiar? Before any of these questions could be answered, Kouga brought the engine to life and sped away from the scene, turning several corners to make a complicated shape back to headquarters.

After seeing the two leave, Ranbou pulled his motorcycle over to the curb behind the police force, keeping his eyes trained on the rider. They were so familiar he could almost taste them on his tongue. He could smell nothing of their scent but perfume, a rather strong and vile on at that, so he couldn't rely on this sense alone. No, it was in their mannerisms, their movement. Who in the hells was this?

The police were closing in around the red motorcycle, some in their cars and others on foot. A rather commanding officer hefted a megaphone, saying, "Turn off your engine and step away from the motorcycle. I repeat, turn off your engine and step away from the motorcycle."

The rider seemed to consider their surroundings for a moment before startling everyone and revving their engine. The police exchanged glances, having expected this obviously outnumbered and surrounded rider to give in. Contrary to the policemen's request, the rider actually picked up their feet and shot forward, gunning the throttle with every single foot of distance. The police in the front prepared to open fire when the rider was almost on top of the foremost police car's nose, yet they never got the chance. Jerking upwards, the rider landed their front wheel on the car's hood and revved the engine again, bringing the entire motorcycle on top of the car and up to the roof.

The stunned police leader finally composed himself and yelled, "Open fire!"

Ranbou winced as shots rang out, catching the motorcycle's detailing but narrowly missing the rider and the wheels. The rider took a daring jump of the police car's back end, sailing over several heads before landing neatly on the pavement, riding away at the speed of light. The police tried to land a few more shots, but failed as the rider weaved unpredictably back and forth. Before they could capture the renegade motorcyclist, they were long gone around too many corners to count. Ranbou shook his head in amazement, rolling his motorcycle down the alleyway silently before starting it up on the other street. Had he got a story to tell!

As Kouga and Sesshomaru pulled up to the warehouse, they became aware of a large crowd milling about outside, talking feverishly amongst themselves. Some seemed excited while others seemed horrified, but overall the crowd was excited and charged. Foremost were Inuyasha and Miroku, trying desperately to console the Wildcats. Kagome was asking question after question about the orchestrated police raid while Sango tried to answer them all. Ayame and Rin were in tears, thinking their boyfriends had been taken to jail or possibly killed. The possibilities, though none of them good, were endless.

Kouga parked the motorcycle quickly, giving Sesshomaru a brotherly punch to the shoulder before throwing off his helmet, jogging towards his friends. Ayame glanced up at running foot steps, joy soaring through her heart in conjunction with relief. She hurried forwards into Kouga's waiting arms, crying into his chest as he held her soothingly. He muttered words of comfort into her hair, kissing the top of her head as she mumbled incoherently; she was just glad he was alive.

Hot on Ayame's heels, Rin ran forward and practically launched herself at Sesshomaru, who caught her deftly, hugging her closely. She wrapped her legs around his waist, burying her head in his shoulder as he chuckled and said, "I'm alright, baby."

"S-stupid," she hiccuped, practically worried beyond consolation. "You m-made me l-leave you, why!'

Sesshomaru sighed, tightening his hold around Rin's tiny frame. She seemed so small, so helpless, which was exactly why he couldn't keep her with him. He had to protect her, even at the cost of his own life, and he wasn't about to risk her safety for pride. His safety, perhaps, but not hers. She meant far too much to him.

Kouga was still holding Ayame contentedly as she calmed down, smiling slightly at the worry she paid him. Though he hated to make her cry, it was nice to know that someone cared. He glanced around the crowd, furrowing his brow as he noticed a missing face. "Where's Ranbou?"

Glancing up, eyes red from stressful crying, Ayame asked blearily, "What?"

"Ranbou," Kouga reitterated urgently, "Hasn't he come back yet?"

The girl just shook her head, eyes confused. "No, I thought he was with you."

A desperate fear gripped Kouga's heart and he broke away from Ayame, jogging towards Sesshomaru. "Sesh, Ranbou's not back yet.'

Sesshomaru seemed to freeze, glancing around at the crowd over Rin's head. When he didn't see his friend's face, the boy readjusted his hold on Rin and addressed Kouga once more. "I thought he followed you out."

Kouga shook his head briefly, turning and calling to the crowd, "Hey, anyone seen Ranbou?"

Everyone exchanged glances, shaking their heads and puzzling over the boy's absence. Before the crowd could continue unwraveling Ranbou's mysterious disappearance, a familiar engine roared around the corner, bringing with it an excited looking Ranbou. The boy barely even brought his motorcycle to a stop before killing the engine and throwing off his helmet, running towards his friends. While they all ran forward, gathering in a relieved huddle around him, Ranbou seemed about ready to burst with confusion, elation and delight.

"Fuck, you guys missed it!" he shouted.

There were several calls of, "Missed what?" and the wolf grinned roguishly, crossing his strong arms across his chest. "Only the greatest example of motorcycling in South gang history."

He went on to tell the crowd about the mysterious rider in red, taunting the police and running up on their car, jumping away with gunfire at their back. He told of how the rider never removed their helmet and succeeded in luring the attention away from Sesshomaru and Kouga. The two boys flushed quietly, thinking shamefully of how they'd forgotten their savior in mere moments. They were more worried about getting out of the streets alive, though they wished they could've seen this feat. It sounded like quite a spectacle.

The crowd was still gushing over the mysterious rider when a roar sounded through the night, followed by a sleek red blur. The streetlights lining the warehouse roads picked up a motorcyclist, leaning over their handlebars as they turned the corner onto the Fang warehouse street, crimson cycle stark against the night. All fell silent as the crowd observed this sight, though Kouga came back to life first.

"That's them! That's the rider!"

The rider in question pulled slowly onto the gravel front lawn, riding a ways towards the group before slowing and killing their engine. The crowd's breath caught as they rider began to remove their helmet, pulling it off in a nearly slow motion frame. Some blinked while others gasped, taking in the sight of the rider unveiled. Many in the crowd knew this rider very well and, contrary to everyone's first thought, the rider wasn't male at all.

_What y'all know about a supermodel  
Fresh outta Elle magazine  
Buy her own bottles  
Look pimp juice, I need me one  
Bad than a mutha  
I hear you sayin'  
I need a bad girl  
If you're a bad girl_

Shaking her brilliant silver hair free of the helmet's constraints, Shitora Taisho observed the gape mouthed crowd through a pair of wicked amber eyes. The two white ears atop her head perked up, twitching and relishing in the cool night air. The girl's crimson red lips curled into a devious smile as she lifted her nose in a confident gesture. Discarding her helmet easily, the girl began sauntering forward highheeled boots clicking on the gravel and swinging her hips from side to side. Like Rin, the girl seemed to have no reservations about dressing provocatively and wore a second skin pair of black leather pants, which clung deliciously to her perfect thighs. Unzipping her jacket as she went, Shitora revealed the black bikini top she wore beneath her black riding jacket, chuckling quietly as several males let out cat calls. Yes, over the years she'd developed a pair of rather perfect breasts, if she did say so herself.

_Playas when you see me  
Act like you know me  
I keep a dollar worth of dimes  
You know pimpin' ain't easy  
For all my chicks in the club  
Who knows how to cut a rug  
If you're a bad girl  
Get at me bad girl_

Inuyasha's heart stopped in surprise as he watched his once innocent baby sistering sauntering towards him, all grown up and a full on vixen. He was motionless for a moment, stunned into nothingness, until someone in the crowd gave a crude whistle. Immedeately, he snapped back to life and hurried forward, intercepting his baby sister before she could finish her cat walk to the crowd. The girl gave a squeal of half protest and half delight, returning Inuyasha's hug happily and giggling as he swung her around. Had this been an anime, the others might've sweat dropped; surely, this leather clad goddess wasn't a giggy school girl?

The brother and sister were reuinted momentarily until Sesshomaru stepped gracefully forward, grabbing his sister away from Inuyasha's grasp. Shitora let out another joyful scream, clinging to Sesshomaru and planting kisses all over his face. The Fang leader chuckled, setting his sister down to get a better look at her. At first, he'd barely been able to believe this young lady, nay, _woman, _was his little sister. As she stood before him, wide grin on her face, he was never more sure of another person's identity; that was definitely Shitora Taisho's smile.

"Miss me?" Shitora asked cheekily, switching her hips tauntingly to the side.

"What are you...I mean I thought dad...wait...how are you...Tora?" Inuyasha stuttered out, still not quite adjusted to his sister's presence.

Shitora just laughed heartily, a loud and racous sound which brought smiles to several faces. Finally she replied saucily, "I mean, c'mon Yash, after the way you two shamed dad the other day? He had to bring me back! I'm all done with school anyway, so why keep me there? I'm a lady, right?" Here, the girl twirled in a circle, displaying herself to her brothers and the crowd.

_Ooh work me baby  
Shakin' it the way I like  
I'm ready to be bad  
I need a bad girl (say yeah)  
Get at me bad girl  
What sexy lady's comin' home with me tonight?  
I'm ready to be bad  
I need a bad girl (super bad baby)  
Get at me bad girl_

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at the girl's antics, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow. "Shamed him? We didn't shame him, we just set him straight."

"Whatever, Sesh," Shitora replied with a terse grin, winking broadly and letting loose another gut splitting laugh.

"Sango, who is that?" Kagome asked confusedly, wondering how everyone seemed to know her previously.

Sango grinned, rolling her eyes and replying, "That's trouble. Shitora Taisho, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's little sister. Her dad sent her up to some kinda boarding school, but it looks like she's back. She's a Fang member from way back when, knows almost everyone here."

Upon hearing this, Kagome furrowed her brow and asked, "Fang member? But I thought the Fangs were all boys..."

Miroku, who had been listening in on the conversation, entered in, "Well, technically we are. But Shitora...she was one of the guys anyway, besides she cusses and spits and smokes and is...basically...a man..." he finished almost confusedly, as though wondering if he could say this about a woman and not be hurt for it.

The three were about to go over to Shitora when a stunned voice broke the air. "Sukini!"

Upon hearing this name, the word for "skinny," Shitora whipped around with a murderous expresison on her face. She met eyes fearlessly with her most hated enemy, Ranbou Ookami, crossing her arms moodily and slipping into a fast funk. Ranbou's mouth was practically dropping in the dirt, eyes bugging out at the rider's identity, while Shitora seemed mildly insulted.

"What, you expected someone else?" she asked spitefully.

Adopting a rather smug look, Ranbou sauntered forward dripping with cocky contempt. "They teach you how to ride a bike at that hoity toity school?"

"Like hell," Shitora replied curtly. "More like I taught them. You know, since I'm the best god damned rider there ever was."

Kagome blinked, turning to Sango and meeting her eyes; had the girl really just said that? Could someone other than Inuyasha posisbly be so conceeded and narcissitic? Yet Sango didn't even seem surprised, but rather annoyed, by this argument. "Good God, there they go again."

The girls turned their attention back to the unfolding fight, which was progressing nicely. The two combatants were now mere inches apart, angry faces almost touching as they wrathfully stared down the other. "Sorry, Sukini, but I'm the hell on wheels around here." Staring the girl pointedly up and down, Ranbou adopted a rather wolfish grin and continued, "You ain't skinny anymore. Never thought you'd grow tits."

This comment stunned Kagome, whose mouth dropped in disgust at the cheap remark, though Shitora didn't even bat an eyelash. "Double D's, bitch, just like mama used to make. What, you think I'm hot now?"

Ranbou narrowed his eyes dangerously. "In your dreams," he growled, muscular arms tensing through his jacket.

"Naw, baby, only in yours," Shitora replied with a triumphant smirk, doing a few obscene pelvic thrusts to denote her sexual allusion.

By this time, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were having a difficult time standing; when had their baby sister become so derogatory? Sure, they'd taught her a few cuss words back in the day, but she'd never commented on sex or her breasts in public! What had those precious three years away done to her innocence? After tuning back into the conversation, Inuyasha suddenly wished he hadn't; the argument had taken a turn for the worst.

"...and you want me to believe you get chicks with that teeny tiny prick of yours? Don't make me laugh!" Shitora exclaimed crudely, laughing and slapping her knee at the suggestion.

Ranbou only cocked an eyebrow, asking smoothly, "Teeny tiny? Think about it much?"

This brought a stop to Shitora's laughing and she narrowed her eyes, poking Ranbou pointedly in the chest. "The day I think about your dick is the day I fucking die!"

Sesshomaru cleared his throat loudly and stepped between the two, staring vehemently down at his little sister before she could utter another vulgar word. Ranbou considered this a win, since he'd basically gotten in the last insult, and her smirked smugly, crossing her arms again in a show of victory. Shitora growled, baring her small fangs and preparing to charge when Sesshomaru addressed her.

"Are you home permanently?" he asked.

Tearing her attention away from Ranbou, Shitora replied, "According to dad, I finish high school here."

Sesshomaru nodded curtly, turning to the accumulated crowd officiously. He raised his arms to grab their attention, nodding once to himself as they quieted; though Sesshomaru was not everyone's leader, he was certainly the most respected. After gaining a perfect silence, Sesshomaru turned to Shitora and said, "It looks like you've returned to your position in the Fangs.'

Grinning recklessly, Shitora replied, "Well hell, course I have! I already broke into the warehouse to get my motorcycle out anyway!'

Inuyasha broke out laughing at the defeated look on Sesshomaru's face, but the Fang leader recovered quickly. "Then it's settled; you've regained your position in the Fang core."

There was a shout of jubilation from the crowd as more people worked their way forward to greet Shitora, smiling and reaching out their hands to shake. Ranbou had, by this time, melted back to stand beside his brother, who was watching the exchange contentedly. Kagome turned to Sango, asking, "She's in the core?"

"Yeah," Sango replied with a half smile, never removing her eyes from Shitora, who was greeting several old friends. "She's a great rider and a pretty amazing fighter too. Hell, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha raised her, whadya expect?"

Kagome nodded a little, observing Shitora for a moment. "She's really pretty," she finally said. When Sango snorted and burst out in a chuckle, Kagome furrowed her brow slightly. "What? Did I say something funny?"

"No," Sango replied, glancing over at Ranbou's digruntled face. "It just means things got a lot more interesting."

**Yeah! Finally done! I've had a butt load of computer problems and lots of school work, but I haven't forgotten this story by any means. Special thanks to BlackRoseVampire 15 again for her help in suggesting "Bad Girl," by Usher, a personal favorite song of mine. I thought it fit Shitora perfectly. I hope the chapter wasn't too rushed, but it took me forever. Sorry it took so long again!**

**KOLU**


	9. A Day at the Beach

**Thanks so much for everyone's support and quick reviewing, I have a few days off from la escuela so I'm gonna try to get a lot of work done. Not to mention clean my room, which is a disaster, lol. I like to think of it as creative chaos, but my mom is like, "um...no." On with the story, much love guys!**

Every gang has a hide out, a headquarters, that one sacred place where only the worthy may tread. For the Tarantulas, their hideout was a dirty hovel in the center of the territory, grungy, dark and rank with sin. The Vixens didn't really have a place to call their own and, subsequently, spent most of their time with the Tarantulas in their headquarters. Usage of the "Spider House" didn't come free, however. The Vixens did a few dirty deeds to earn their keep, but no body complained; as long as they weren't out on the street, the Vixen girls couldn't raise a finger in protest.

Today, Naraku was leaning back in a ratty office chair, observing his headquarters with an air of perverse pride. Some of the Tarantulas gave a ragged cry of approval as two top naked Vixens began grinding to an inaudible beat. On the other side of the room, a groan was heard as one of the Vixens provided a Tarantula with truly fantastic head. Kanna, second in command for the Vixens, was laughing cutely at something a Tarantula had just said, preparing to straddle his lap. A rather beautiful girl, wearing nothing but a leather mini skirt and stilletos, clicked her way towards Naraku, mouth twisted in a wicked smirk as she laid eyes on the leader. Yes, Naraku thought as the girl got down on her knees before him, this was truly the perfect life. If only he could have Salter...

The very thought put him in a terrible mood and with a growl, Naraku pushed away the girl, who was beginning to unzip his jeans. The girl gave a small squeak as she toppled over sideways and frowned as Naraku stormed out of the room, withdrawing his cell phone from his pocket as he went. Naraku marched straight towards an inconspicuous door in the corner and slammed it behind him. While the others exchanged glances, no one made a motion to follow him; everyone knew that, when enclosed in that room, Naraku was not to be disturbed, lest you lose your head.

The only furnishings in the room were an old rotting table and a chair, Naraku's thinking hovel where he devised his most dastardly plans. Plopping down in the chair, the boy went down a list in his phone and stopped on one name in particular: Akago. Hitting the send button restlessly, Naraku waited through several rings until a voice answered.

Now, the Sharks had a much more respectable headquarters than the Tarantulas, one in which very little or no lewd behavior went on. Outside of prying eyes, Akago ran a resepctable, friendly gang where everyone was intelligent and collected, just like their leader. The headquarters was actually a group of beach houses on the ocean front and the door were almost always open, allowing the cool breeze to drift through the houses. Akago was currently leaning on the porch banister looking out on the ocean, which reflected the perfect blue skies and brilliant sun. Beside him, his trusted friend Gatenmaru was doing the same, both honoring the silence and its rarities.

Akago looked like anything but a gang member right then, wearing an open-chested white beach shirt and jeans, just a regular person appreciating nature. Gatenmaru smirked a little turning to lean back against the railing. "Sometimes I think you're getting soft," he said simply.

This only provoked a snort from Akago, whose white hair blew back from his face in the wind. "Soft. What is it, really, to be soft? I didn't want any of this when Minamoto promoted me, the women, the law breaking, the bantering back and forth with the South. But how could I say no? A person just doesn't say no to offers like that."

"If that's what you think," came Gatenmaru's vague reply.

Akago hated the way his friend could make him feel so inadequate with words like that, but he had no time to reply. A ringing inside diverted his attention and he pushed away from the banister, walking leisurely inside to answer his cell phone. "Hello?" he asked, not even bothering to look at the number.

"Akago," came a sinister voice.

The Shark leader scowled, realizing he'd just inadvertantly answered Naraku's phone call. He'd made it a habit to ignore those. "Naraku," he said blankly.

"How are you doing, Akago?" came Naraku's sickeningly sweet reply.

Cringing, Akago replied shortly, "Spare me the pleasantries. What do you want?"

"A man who gets straight to the point. That's what I like about you, Akago, you don't mess with unimportant words. In this light, I won't bother you with any. I called to see if you'd changed your mind about taking over Salter, since I certainly haven't."

The change of subject dropped a rock in Akago's gut and his breath escaped in a woosh; of course he still remembered the gang meeting a week or so back, the one where Naraku had proposed this proposterous idea, but who was he to say no? It was Naraku's business after all and, if the Sharks weren't involved, the Tarantulas could do whatever the hell they wanted. But this...

"I'm not in on this, Naraku, and I don't even know why you called since you know I won't be moved on the," matter Akago said cooly.

But this time Naraku had leverage. "Ah yes. But that's because you have nothing to fan you from behind. How about this; do you know who I was looking at mere moments ago?"

Akago rolled his eyes, replying shortly, "No idea."

"Someone who you know quite well. Kanna? She's giving someone in the other room one hell of a blow job right about now."

Wincing slightly, Akago recalled several flashing images of his baby sister when they were younger, dancing around in the play pool, calm and collected like her brother yet with more of a freedom about her. He'd always looked after her, as they were foster children with no real parents to care for them. Certainly, he respected his foster parents, but there was always that gap between them and nothing, not even time, could heal it. His sister was dear to him, even if she'd strayed from the path long ago.

"What of it? You act as though I'm unaware of her behavior," Akago replied casually, knowing Naraku was trying to get a rise out of him.

"Well, if you don't agree to my terms, your sister won't be doing much of anything anymore. It's hard for dead people to 'behave'. But of course the death would be slow; everyone deserves a ceremonious death, don't you think?"

Just the relish in Naraku's voice was enough to make Akago want to vomit. He knew that the Tarantulas could easily take down the Sharks if they wanted to, but did Naraku have to use such dirty tricks to control them? Akago knew it was wrong to lead his gang in such a direction if only for his sister's protection, but what could he do? Naraku was known for his terrible torture tricks and just imagining Kanna chained up against the wall, being touched and whipped...

"God damn you," Akago hissed, glancing up as Gatenmaru strolled in from outside; his friend's gaze was concerned and questioning, but Akago just waved away his worry.

Naraku chuckled darkly. "God will have to get in line. I trust you'll be picking up my phone calls from now on. Now that we're...business partners."

Without another word, the line went dead and Akago found himself frozen for a moment, unable to move or think or even breathe. He didn't want any part of this dastardly plan, but he didn't have a choice any more. Perhaps his sister was beyond saving, but he didn't believe that; in order to help her, however, he'd have to keep her alive. Finally, Akago threw down his cell phone and massaged his temples, pretending as though he couldn't feel Gatenmaru's eyes.

"Who was that?" Gatenmaru asked finally, crossing his muscular arms.

"The devil," came Akago's lifeless reply. "And I've just made a deal with him."

"Transmission?"

"No, I think it's the distributor."

"Bullshit, I just replaced that thing three weeks ago. Try the cams."

"It can't be the cams cause _I _just replaced those _two _weeks ago.'

"Um...fuel injection?"

"No, dumbass, _you _replaced that."

"Oh yeah..."

Over the years, the gangs had made Inuyasha's Lamborghini Diablo their group project, seeing as though no one person could get the car running. Between all of them, the gangs had quite an advanced library of knowledge, yet they couldn't seem to get that car started. Inuyasha had found the dilapidated body and parts at the ripe age of 15, begging his 16 year old brother and friends to help him get it running. No one had quite expected the work it took to tame the car, but this didn't really matter in the end; without the Lamborghini to work on, the boys might've felt purposeless and lost.

Right now, it was nearing noon on a hot June day, a week or so after Shitora's arrival. Everything had settled back down until the gangs were peacefully working on their vehicles. Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Miroku, Kouga, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ranbou, Bankotsu and Hiten were all gathered around the car's open hood, staring down at the spaghetti mix of parts, all of them smudged with grease and carrying tools. At the moment, they looked, to say the least, absolutely stumped; why wouldn't this damned piece of machinery just get up and go?

Since the boys had emptied the bench of tools, using them all in their efforts to resurrect Inuyasha's car, the girls were sitting there observing the mechanical feat of genius. The girls had already shed their shirts in the unbearable heat and were currently passing around a beer bottle, taking sips and hoping to keep cool. Sango wiped a hand across her brow and began to curl her high ponytail into a bun.

"God, it hasn't been this hot all week, and that's saying something," she moaned.

Ayame cocked an eyebrow and leaned back slightly. "Maybe the heat's gotten to them enough that they'll let us help."

There was a silence between the girls as they exchanged glances, but finally Shitora snorted. "Yeah, it's not that hot."

Kagome sighed, crossing her arms and observing the boys irritatedly. "Can't they just accept someone's help for once?"

After a moment, Shitora gave a growl and leapt off the bench, rolling her lithe shoulders and flexing her claws."You know what, I've had just about enough of these stupid ass men. I'm gonna go help them whether they like it or not."

Before the others could say a word in protest, the white haired girl stormed over towards the crowd of boys and pushed Hiten bodily out of her path. After muscling her way into the circle, Shitora ignored the surprised stares of the boys and allowed her eyes to take in the sight of the Lamborghini's inards.

After a moment she announced boldly, "Gearbox. Replace it and..." Shitora leaned over, running her hands over some of the parts to inspect further. As she bent over, Ranbou felt an odd heat in his lower regions; there weren't many perfect asses in this world, but Shitora's certainly came close.

Kouga, who was observing this scene with mild amusement, glanced over at his brother and noticed the odd flush on his face. Quirking an eyebrow, the younger Ookami caught his brother's attention with a twinkling of his fingers and made an obscene pelvic thrust sort of gesture. This brought a scowl to Ranbou's lips and the elder boy let loose a low growl at the insinuation.

At the sound of the deep rumbling behind her, Shitora rose up and turned to face Ranbou. "What crawled up your ass and died?" she asked haughtily, crossing her arms.

Ignoring his brother's insolent chuckles, Ranbou lowered his eyebrows and replied, "I was just wonderin' where you go off comin' over here and tellin' us how to do our job, Sukini."

"If this is your job, then you must be poor, because surely no one pays you to be an asshole," Shitora retorted smartly, barely even raising her voice. The other boys gave low sounds of approval, clapping a sour Ranbou on the back.

"Oh, shut up, you skinny little bitch," Ranbou bit viciously, a little harsher than he intended.

There was brief silence as the others digested this insult. Rarely did Ranbou and Shitora's little bantering matches escalate into fights, but often the others stopped them before this was possible. Inuyasha's eyes darkened and he stepped forward, taking Ranbou by the shoulder and ushering him away from the circle. "I think you need a drink, man."

Even after Ranbou's departure, the others didn't quite know what to say. Finally, Shitora let out a seemingly carefree laugh. "Huh. Guess I won that round, then."

Another awkward silence followed Shitora's comment and, eventually, Sesshomaru decided that none of this awkwardness was worth the hastle. "I do believe this calls for a break," he said finally, wiping his greasy palms on a nearby rag.

The others gave tired nods, deciding that nothing worthwhile could be accomplished in this unbearable heat. The other girls slid off the work bench, exchanging glances before hurrying over to Shitora; they were prepared for damage control. Kagome reached the white haired girl first and said quickly, "I bet Ranbou was just tired or something."

Shitora cocked and eyebrow and turned haphazardly to Kagome. "We don't need to talk about it or anything. That's what I get for being a bitch to him."

Momentarily stunned into silence, the other girls exchanged more odd glances before shrugging their shoulders and leaving the subject alone. After a small yet awkward silence, Miroku's voice hailed the girls over to the kitchen area where the boys had gathered. Sango walked in the back of the herd on their way towards the couches, trying to convince herself that Miroku didn't look appealing without his shirt on; strangely enough, she was failing.

"You girls wanna go to the beach?" Miroku asked.

The girls couldn't help but be slightly surprised; the workaholic gang boys wanted to go to the beach? Rin cocked an eyebrow and asked tentatively, "The...beach? Why?"

Inuyasha snorted. "To snowboard. Whadya think?"

Sesshomaru dealt his younger brother a swift whack to the chest and replied calmly to his girlfriend's question, "We just thought everyone could used a short break. We're not getting much done in this heat anyway."

While the two leaders were exchanging words, Ranbou glanced up from where he was sitting quietly on the couch. Just through a window in the group, between Inuyasha and Kouga, the wolf demon could make out the thin but appealing form of Shitora. She had her arms crossed, eyes downcast as she toed at some dirt on the floor. He couldn't quite tell, due to the angle of her head, but he could practically feel the upset waves rolling off of her. In truth, Ranbou hadn't meant to call her a bitch and be so short with her; he was just irritated that she knew more about cars than him. Perhaps he was the more knowledgeable mechanic, but she was the better one; she'd always had a good eye and head for puzzles when he was more of the book type. He was jealous of her...and yet he respected her simultaneously. Not that he'd ever tell her that, but he truly did.

Shitora glanced up and noticed Ranbou staring at her, ice blue eyes boring holes in her skull. She quickly looked away again, as though struck by invisible hands. Shitora silently began cursing herself, realizing she must look like a coward, shying away from his gaze. Yet...she couldn't forget that look of pure hatred on his face when he'd denounced her. He seemed to truly...dislike her. The girl didn't know why it bothered her so much, but it did; since when had she cared about what Ranbou thought?

"Sounds great!" Rin said finally, clapping her hands joyfully together. "We'll just go back home for our suits and meet you guys there, okay?"

The others agreed and Kagome placed her hand gently on Shitora's shoulder, getting her attention and ushering her towards the door. Though Kagome said nothing, just her soft reassurance was all the other girl needed; Shitora nodded slightly to herself and jogged after the others, pulling Kagome along towards Rin's convertible. All she had to do was forget about Ranbou; he didn't mean anything to her anyway, right? Right.

"What's wrong with it?"

"My boobs look funny."

"They don't look funny, they look fine. Nice and...round...Actually, they're sticking out at a funny angle; I see your point."

"Okay, yeah, not helping Sango."

Rin turned this way and that, staring at her reflection with the critical eye of a beautiful girl. Kagome and Ayame sat quietly on the bed, observing the goings on with a bitter sort of silent judgement. Shitora, who had no problems speaking her mind, mentioned tactlessly, "Don't complain about huge tits, Rin. They're a blessing."

Turning up her nose, Rin replied, "I wasn't commenting on their size, I just said they looked funny."

Ayame sighed, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling and falling back on the mattress; Rin had been complaining about her skimpy black bikini for the past ten minutes and showed no signs of slowing. Was the girl really that shallow, that she could find one thousand things wrong with the way her breasts sat in a top?

Kagome walked up behind Rin with a purposeful gait, untying the bikini straps and retying them deftly. Within seconds, a smile was gracing Rin's lips. "Oh, there we go!" the Wildcat leader exclaimed jouyfully, turning this way and that in the mirror.

The other girls concealed snorts and hurriedly donned their own bathing suits, throwing on jean shorts and hurrying for the door; the boys were probably waiting restlessly at the water side right that second. The girls piled in the car and Ayame flipped on the radio, throwing her head back as Rin gunned the engine; it felt so good to have the wind in her hair, free and let down in the summer.

The girls laughed and sang along to the radio, driving steadily towards the beach until Rin was forced to stop at a stoplight. Sango glanced to the side only to double-take; a black convertible full of Sharks was sitting beside them, the six boys talking quietly amongst themselves. The girl let out a gasp, gazing at the car above her sunglasses while her friends turned to look. Kagome cocked her head to the side, taking in the sight of those boys; they certainly didn't seem sinister.

"Don't look, Kagome," Rin said calmly, never removing her eyes from the stoplight. "They're not worth it."

At that moment, one of the Sharks glanced over and raised his eyebrows, expression never wavering. "Good afternoon ladies," he said simply, drawing attention to Rin's car.

Under the scrutiny of the Sharks, the girls surprisingly found themselves at ease; there was nothing dasterdly about the situation and, no matter how hard they tried, the girls couldn't feel uncomfortable. "Yeah, hi," Shitora replied dismissively, mustering a tight smile. She felt rather guilty for not feeling any hatred towards the Sharks.

As the light turned green, the Shark driver called, "Have a nice day," before zooming off into the distance. Rin couldn't help but notice that, even though he accelerated quickly, he stopped abruptly at the speed limit, not even straying a mile above. Had she not been the Wildcats leader, Rin might've mistaken those boys for regular everyday citizens and not member of a ruthless drug gang.

"Let's not repeat this to anyone," Ayame said finally, as the girls pulled into the beach parking lot. The others nodded, not even daring to think what the boys would say if they knew of the encounter. Somethings were just better left unsaid and this was definitely one of them.

After making the final turn, Rin pulled the car into a parking space, remaining unsurprised by the lack of cars. This part of the beach, creatively called The Cove, was a well-known hangout for gang members and those protected by rite; normal citizens could tread there if they so desired, but many found it safer just to stay away. The beaches of Tokyo were vast, anyway; why should normal people risk being caught in the midst of gang fire when they could rest peacefully not one mile down the way? Rin killed the engine and stepped out of the car, glancing over her sunglasses at the beachgoers.

From her position, Rin could make out the gleaming silver heads of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, both shirtless and engaged in a volleyball game with the other boys. Nodding to her girlfriends, the Wildcat leader grinned and gave them a devilish wink.

"Whadya say we go cause some hard-ons, ladies?"

Sango burst out laughing at this ridiculous statement while Ayame rolled her eyes and slung an arm around her best friend's shoulders. "I don't think prancing around in a bikini would give Sesh a hard-on, Rin. Judging from the way he reacts to your everyday wardrobe, I'd say it takes a lot more than simple strings and cloth."

Turning up her nose indignantly, Rin replied, "I can give my man a boner anytime I want. I bet I can do it on command."

Kagome raised an eyebrow and saddled up beside her cousin with a sly smile. "Why Rin, was that a challenge, directed at Ayame?"

Both parties involved in this assumption turned to face Kagome abruptly, appearing as deer in headlights. "Come again?" Ayame asked confusedly.

Grin ever widening, Kagome continued, "That sounded like a challenge to me, Aya. I mean, couldn't you give Kouga a hard-on if you wanted to?"

Before the redhead could even answer, Rin let out a snort and interrupted, "Pssht, Kouga? I bet Kouga's had more girls than beers. It would take more than a peep show to get him boning."

Ayame furrowed her brow, adjusting her bikini strap self conciously. "That's not true, I could do it if I really wanted to."

Yet Rin wouldn't be swayed and only flicked her wrist dismissively. "Please, girl. There's a lot more to being sexy than you know. Mechanics aren't really part of the 'sexy' crowd, anyway."

There was complete and total silence for a moment as Ayame digested this insinuation, ignoring Kagome's expectant face looking pointedly in her direction. Just as the girls were coming within throwing range of the boys, Ayame said suddenly, "Fifty bucks I get Kouga hard before you get Sesshomaru boning."

Grinning cockily, Rin pulled down her sunglasses and didn't even bother glancing in the girl's direction. "Doll, that's like stealing fifty bucks from you. I couldn't do it to a friend."

Sango snorted and leaned down towards Shitora, "Me thinks Rin is getting a big head."

The hanyou shrugged. "She _is _pretty hot, man. You can't deny that."

"Course not," came Sango's annoyed response as she dug her toes deepers into the warm sand. "But doesn't mean she's gotta act like it, you know?"

After Rin's blatant put down, Ayame wrestled with her inner demons for a few steps. Sure, she was the tomboy mechanic, but she wouldn't be in the Wildcats core if she wasn't good looking. The girl had a typical gang girl body, toned and muscular, yet more defined than your average groupie. All the stretching and heavy lifting she did in the shop gave her quite an appetizing figure, yet she hid it beneath her baggy jeans and overalls. This, however, didn't mean she couldn't be sexy and she was seriously regretting Rin's dismissal of this fact. No matter how demeaning Ayame found slutty attitudes to women, she decided she would have to adopt her tramp face and give her man a day he would never forget, if only to prove a point: mechanics could be sexy if they damn well wanted to.

"You scared I might beat you, Rin?" Ayame challenged a second time.

"Of course n-" Rin began haughtily, only to be cut off again.

"Then prove it," Ayame replied shortly, stopping and turning to face her friend and leader.

The two girls locked eyes for a moment before Rin gave a weary sigh and rolled he eyes to the clouds. "Fine, Ayame, but I'm warning you. I won't go easy on you just cause you're my second."

"I know," Ayame replied flatly, shaking Rin's extended hand to consummate their bet.

Kagome, who was mighty pleased with her handiwork, crossed her arms triumphantly and glanced in Sango's direction. The girl rolled her eyes at her friend's ridiculous idea, yet gave her a thumbs up all the same; this bet would certainly make things a bit more interesting.

"Serve!" Inuyasha shouted, wiping away glistening sweat from his forehead.

The muscular boy tossed the ball up and jumped, bringing it crashing down towards the other team's court. Kouga was crouched down, prepared to dig the ball, but his eyes seemed to magically drift away from the game; as a result, in a small explosion off sand, the ball ricocheted off the boy's head and landed on the ground with a small "plop." His teammates let out sounds of irritation and Hakkaku stepped forward to protest.

"Kouga, what the hell? You were right there!"

Yet Kouga seemed impervious to words, slaps and vulgar insinuations at that moment; his attention was focused elsewwhere. Finally, Miroku had the sense to follow Kouga's gaze and the perverted boy's mouth dropped open in amazement; he'd forgotten how fantastic Sango looked in a bikini. The girls were each wearing their favorite colors, discarding ther jean shorts and helping each other rub on sun tan lotion. Every single boy on the court remained completely motionless as they watched the seemingly oblivious girls in a god-like display of unintended sensuality, rubbing the oil along their glistening bare skin; this was so wrong, yet so right.

Sango hazarded a glance in the boys' direction and said slyly, "Girls, I think we've got an audience."

Kagome, in turn, discreetly followed Sango's gaze to the open mouthed boys. Inuyasha, too, looked as thought he could barely keep the drool inside his mouth and the girl let out a small, barking laugh. "Then let's give them something to look at."

Shitora winked at Kagome and said rather loudly, "Hey, Kags? I can't quite reach this spot right here...can you help me out?"

Kagome returned the wink and replied in the same loud tone, "Sure, Tora, come closer."

With this, Shitora moved towards Kagome and practically hugged the girl, front to front, while Kagome reached around and began massaging tthe sun tan lotion into a portion of skin just above Shitora's bikini bottom. Ranbou and Inuyasha both bit back moans and turned away their heads, wondering if they were actually seeing this. Rin, simultaneously, saddled up beside Sango and began masssaging lotion into the top portion of her breasts, biting her lip cutely as she did so. Sango choked back a laugh and leaned over, completely folded in half, to put the oil on her calves.

Miroku let out a small gasp as Sango's ass came fully into view, practically begging to be groped. The boy's feet began moving unconciously in tthe girls' direction, but Bankotsue and Hiten each grabbed one of his arms, shaking their heads and whispering negative words in his ear; he's made such strides with Sango lately, it would really bite the big one to destroy all that progress for one grope.

Ayame noticed that her friends had already fallen into the pit of feminine wiles and were performing barely appropriate acts in order to put on their suntan lotion. Though she'd made the bet with Rin, Ayame just couldn't bring herself to put on such a disgusting display. Instead, the girl reached back and ran a hand through her hair, licking her lips and beginning to stride purposefully towards Kouga.

As his girlfriend came walking towards him, Kouga could barely keep his tongue inside his mouth; her emerald bikini hugged her curves perfectly, riding low on the bottom and practically constricting her breasts on the top. She was a healthy tan color, which accentuated her bright red hair and glittering green eyes. The way her hips rocked back and forth was enough to send Kouga over the edge, but when she smiled at him, he felt that familiar sense of self control overriding his male urges; just a simple smile from Ayame brought him back down to earth.

"Hey Ko," Ayame said smoothly, smiling as he grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Ayame leaned up and captured his lips, snaking her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. The feeling of Kouga's bare abs against her stomach was enough to get _her _sexually excited, but she swiftly remembered her bet and grinded her hips into Kouga's. At the sensation, Kouga moaned and pulled Ayame even nearer, ignoring the sounds of disgust from his friends.

Kouga was just imagining the things he could do to Ayame, alone and naked in a bedroom somewhere, when Ranbou yelled, "Hey, cut it out, would ya? I didn't come to the beach to watch my brother tonguing his girlfriend."

This, needless to say, broke the mood, and the two broke apart, exchanging loving yet irritated glances. "You wanna play?" Kouga asked Ayame, obviously referring to the volleyball game.

Mustering a smile, Ayame replied, "Sure."

The other girls had, by this time, wandered over and were talking with the boys, trying to ignore Kouga and Ayame's display. Sesshomaru had already invited the other girls to play, and currently, they were deciding teams. Sesshomaru and Ranbou were captains and immedeately began picking team mates from the large asssortment of friends. Sesshomaru and Ranbou picked teams until only Shitora and Hiten were left. Shitora looked thoroughly pissed and Hiten looked amused at Shitora's irritation.

It was Ranbou's turn and he glanced between the two, smirking and finallly pointing to Hiten. "Get over here, man."

Shitora crossed her arms and lowered her eyebrows dangerously, addressing both Ranbou and her brother. "Why was I picked last!"

"Because," Ranbou replied cockily, "You're short. Volleyball's for tall people."

"What!" came Shitora's outraged cry. "That ain't fair! Rin's short too!"

At this, the white haired girl turned angrily to her older brother, raising an eyebrow as though asking why he hadn't picked her sooner. Sesshomaru only shrugged and replied, "She's my girlfriend."

"But I'm your sister!"

"But...she's my girlfriend."

"Oh, I so hate you right now."

As the two teams passsed each other on their way to the proper sides of the court, Ayame muttered in Ranbou's ear, "You're really in my bad book right now." The girl obviously hadn't forgotten who'd ruined her kiss with Kouga; he'd been deliciously close to boning and Ayame was perfectly aware.

Ranbou, who waas unaware of the bet, grabbed Ayame's arm and asked irritatedly, "Me? What'd I do?"

"I'll tell you later but trust me; you're in for it."

With that, Ayame broke away and jogged underneath the net, joining her team in the hudddle. The team, which consisted of Sesshomaru, Rin, Ayame, Kouga, Shitora, Sango and Miroku all looked to their leader expectantly. Sesshomaru just raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't fuck up."

The others nodded and shouted "break," hurrying to their positions and preparing for Ranbou's serve. The boy leaped high into the air and served the ball, hitting it with tremendous force; the boys watched in horror as the ball came directly towards Rin's face, yet the girls only yelled, "Dig!"

Rin dug the ball easily and popped it up perfectly to Ayame's hands. Ayame set the ball, leaving the outside right to spike it; the boy's let out silent groans as they watched Shitora poised and ready to approach the ball. Though the expected Shitora to be too short for such a feat of athleticism, they were stunned when she leapt high in the air, sending the ball crashing down on the other team's sand faster than anyone could blink. Ranbou made a move to dig it, but just barely missed it; sand exploded in his face as he hit the ground, flying inside his mouth and adding to his irritation.

"Good hit," Ayame, Rin and Sango said menially, slapping hands casually with Shitora as though this were no big deal.

Sesshomaru, Kouga, Miroku and exchanged glances, shrugging and deciding to utilize these obviously talented girls. Meanwhile, on the other side, Bankotsu offered a hand to Ranbou.

"Nice try, dude," the boy said in his light, surfer tone.

"Feh," came Ranbou's irritated grunt as he accepted the boy's hand. "That bitch is goin' down."

Inuyasha nodded grimly. "I can't lose to my little sister; that's just embarassing."

As the others joined the huddle, trying to regroup, Hiten chuckled and crossed his tan arms. "I dunno, you know what they say, Ran: Hell hath no fury like a Shitora scorned. I doubt she'll let you off easy after you talked shit about her."

Kagome grinned as well. "Looks like you've met your match, huh?"

To this bold declaration, Ranbou only scoffed, muttering, "break," and ignoring his rather smug team mates. They could all see the irritation stark through Ranbou's features and knew Shitora was putting him back in his place; the boy had been too cocky for years now.

As Ayame prepared to serve, Rin glanced back at her friend; she certainly hadn't forgotten their bet and was fully prepared to use her superior knowledge about sexiness to win this battle. Furthermore, Rin and Sesshomaru had been going out for almost two years now; this gave Rin an advantage as far as pressure spots went, seeing as though she knew all of her boyfriend's weaknesses.

Grinning to herself, Rin hunkered down and waited until the sound of Ayame's palm hitting the volleyball met her ears. Just as Rin had anticipated, Inuyasha volleyed it easily back over the net and the ball sailed through the air, preparing to land in the space right between Rin and Sesshomaru. Both Rin and Sesshomaru stretched out to get the ball and Sesshomaru managed to hit it with one arm, sending it straight up towards Ayame in the setting position. Meanwhile, Rin came falling down on Sesshomaru's broad chest, letting loose a small squeak of supposed "surprise."

In truth, Rin was preparing to use one of her weapons: Sesshomaru's love for Rin's neck. Now, this may seem like a strange body part to be attracted to, though Rin surmised it had to do with her boyfriend's dog heritage. According to tradition, the neck was where a demon marked his mate and Rin couldn't help but connect them. Sesshomaru certainly spent quite a bit of time perusing the skin on her neck, however.

Rin shifted only slightly so that her neck was place just near Sesshomaru's chin and she laughed as well when she heard him chuckle. "I got that one," he said arrogantly, obviously classifying their stretched for the ball as a battle. Rin didn't care if he'd won that battle, as long as she won the war.

The girl could feel the vibrations in her neck as Sesshomaru chuckled into her skin, beginning to plant kissed up and down the area. She shivered, possibly more turned on than her boyfriend was getting, yet she knew how he responded to her replies. In kind, she groaned and closed her eyes, letting him know the truth: he was pleasing her. Sesshomaru was mere seconds from popping up the pup tent, or so Rin believed, when someone shouted, "Look out!"

The volleyball, which had obviously returned by the other team, came crashing down next to the couple, spraying sand upon them and breaking up their moment. Rin coughed a little, spitting out grit and glaring at the others. "Hey!"

Her friends only laughed at her predicament while Miroku retrieved the ball. "You were the ones making out on the court, not us."

Rin gave a irritated huff, which only served to provoke a chuckle from Sesshomaru. "Don't worry, koi, we'll finish this later," he said soothingly.

At the very idea of "finishing," their little episode, Rin grew rather shaky and excited. "Okay," she all but whispered, smiling lovingly down at him before pushing herself to her feet. Ayame grinned triumphantly from where she was standing, glad the bet wasn't already lost. She would best Rin for sure; Ayame had determination.

"Still standing, Aya?" Rin called sweetly.

"Oh, trucking right along Rin. You still _up _for the challenge?" Ayame returned, emphasizing the word "up."

"Of course I am! I would never _lay down _and die when I was so close to victory!" Rin shot back, emphasizing "lay down."

On the other side of the court, Kagome observed the exchange with mild interest; because she knew of the bet, Kagome could safely assume their strategically emphasized words were puns on the situation. Inuyasha, too, seemed to have noticed something strange and leaned over, asking discreetly, "Hey, is something up with them?"

Kagome laughed a little, leaning closer to him. "Yeah, they have a bet to see who can give their boyfriend a boner first." When Inuyasha choked a little, the girl gave him a mock innocent glance. "What's the matter, Yash? Surprised?"

The hanyou snorted, running a hand through his long white hair. "I guess I shouldn't be. Who do ya think's gonna win?"

"Hard to say," Kagome replied casually, breaking away only to volley the ball then returning to the conversation. "Rin's more experienced but Ayame's got the will. Rin's been on her sexual high horse lately, talking smack about giving Sesshomaru the heat all the time and whatever. I guess Ayame was just sick of it and when Aya gets riled, she'll do just about anything."

Nodding slightly, Inuyasha grinned and glanced over at the girl. "I know that's right. You seem to know everybody pretty well even though you've only known em a couple weeks."

Shrugging a little, Kagome adopted a fond look on her pretty face. "Yeah. Well, you've all been so good to me, I guess it's hard not to feel welcome. Almost like I'm part of the gang..." the girl trailed off, reitterating quickly, "I mean not part of the _gang _gang, just part of...you guys...wait, that's not what I meant, I mean..."

But before she could finish, Inuyasha grabbed her hand with his. "Kagome, I know."

Letting out a small sigh, Kagome offered the boy a half hearted smile; Kagome couldn't lie to anyone else, nor could she lie to herself. After all this time with the Fangs and Wildcats, she was almost upset that they hadn't asked her to be one of the gang members by this time. Sure, they were still getting over the loss of Kikyo, but couldn't they get over it faster? Kagome was becoming restless. Besides that, she felt almost unprotected at the races, as though her unaffiliation with a specific gang could get her killed. Because of this, she tended to stick closely to her friends and no one seemed to mind. They seemed to feel more at ease with her beside them anyhow, as though they too feared for her safety.

Kagome was only broken from her musings when the volleyball seemed to magically appear on the ground between her and Inuyasha with a small "plump." The two glanced blankly down at it, frozen for a moment before Ranbou let out an outraged snarl. "Damnit! All it took was a couple chicks and none of youse can focus! I give up!"

With that, the boy threw up his clawed hands and began stalking away, long hair swinging moodily from side to side. Everyone watched him go with mild amusement, never feeling any insult at his words; they all knew how angry Ranbou could get on a whim. Shitora, however, crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Hmph. What a hot head."

At this hypocritical statement, the others snorted and turned to go attend to activities elsewhere, leaving Shitora behind. "What!" she asked obliviously, throwing out her hands.

The others all settled down on towels and began sunbathing, much to Ranbou's disgust. Sure, he'd cut off the volleyball game, but only because those schmucks had been kissing all over each other! It was positively revolting and unsanitary! And there they were, laying out on the sand to do some more of that disgusting behavior! Hakkaku and Ginta were involved in a discussion with Bankotsu and Hiten, comparing the possible routes the gangs could take around the whole Salter street issue.

"I mean, it's not like the Spiders would actually do it, right? I mean, there's no way they could take Salter from the Fangs. _Especially _not the Fangs," Hakkaku reasoned, cocking his head to the side and off-kiltering his mohawk.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Bankotsu said easily. "I mean, please; it's Sesshomaru, for crying out loud. He's the man and everybody knows it. If the Spiders somehow actually took Salter, they'd have about four hundred angry gang members at the door. It didn't look like the rest of the North was really into his whole domination idea anyway."

Hiten entered in, "Yeah, I heard they all just kinda sat there while Naraku went all Pinky and the Brain, talking about controlling shit and whatever." The boy tilted his head towards the sky, red eyes reflecting the sun as his braid tip nearly touched the sand.

"Pinky and the Brain?" Ginta asked after a while, grinning as Hiten flicked some sand in his direction.

At this moment, Shitora walked up to the boys and plopped down between Bankotsu and Hiten, sighing and adjusting her red bikini strap on her sticky shoulder. "Hey guys."

The boys all said varying version of hello, feeling totally at ease with Shitora's presence. They all knew the girl from way back and considered her one of the guys, even if she had grown breasts in their years apart. They valued her opinion as much as they did one of their guy friends and she appreciated it; in boarding school, no one took her outlandish ideas seriously, passing it off as "girlish fancy." What the hell was girlish fancy anyway?

"Whadya think about Salter?" Bankotsu asked in the girl's direction.

Shitora shrugged, making designs in the sand with her index finger. "I dunno. I don't think Naraku's brave enough to follow through with his threats alone. He'll need backup and he ain't stupid, so they'll be organized. I don't think he'll make his move immedeately, but I don't think he'll let it drop either. If Shomo's smart, he'll start fortifying the barriers, so to speak, getting everyone together and talking about what they'd do if certain scenarios came into play. But that's just me."

The boys nodded at her wise words, silently marveling over her likeness to Sesshomaru. Both of them had the same thoughtful mentality, while she and Inuyasha shared their unpredictable tempers. The siblings' years apart must've been complete and utter hell.

"Sometimes I think we should just assassinate the bastard," Hakkaku said irritably, referring to his gang the Reikons, led by Ranbou and known for their untraceable and ruthless killing skills.

Yet Shitora only laughed a little. "I dunno, Hak. You guys are good, but I don't think the whole lot of you could take down Naraku, what with his guards and his smarts. He may be a bastard, but he's a smart bastard. He wouldn't be leader if he wasn't."

"No way," Ginta argued with a smug expression. "Maybe we couldn't take him down, but Ranbou could do it. If we just sent in Ranbou alone, I bet he could take down that Spider idiot once and for all."

Even though the idea seemed far out, Hiten nodded and agreed. "Can't argue with that; Ran's the best at what he does. Silent, quick and merciless, just the way an assassin should be."

"Huh, he hardly seems the silent and merciless type," Shitora replied dully, continuing to play with the sand.

"You just haven't seen him in action," Bankotsu explained, a look of relish on his face. "It's like art. It's no wonder he's the leader of the Reikons. I don't think anyone could replace him."

"Can't argue with that," Hakkaku said with a shake of his head; after Ranbou's departure, the Reikons just wouldn't be the same.

"I don't know what you guys see in that idiot," Shitora muttered mutinously, practically breaking her fingernails as she dug away at the ground; her eyes were becoming increasingly narrower.

Bankotsu and Hiten exchanged glances, shrugging their shoulders, while Hakkaku and Ginta just sighed. The rivalry between Ranbou and Shitora was simply fated to never die. Before the boys could think any farther on the matter, Shitora rose abruptly and said, "I think I'll go hang with Yash or something. See you guys later."

With that, the girl was gone, hips shaking from side to side as she perused the beach. The four watched her go, letting out a simultaneous breath when she was out of ear-shot. "She and Bou are so much alike; it's no wonder they can't get along," Hiten reasoned.

Bankotsu chuckled. "Don't tell them that, they won't hear tell of the other one. Ranbou still calls her Sukini, for crying out loud."

At this, Hakkaku shook his head. "I don't get it; she isn't even skinny anymore. She kinda...rounded out. You know?"

"Rounded out? Hak, she's just flat out hot," Ginta laughed, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Laughing, the others turned to watch Shitora's back getting farther and farther away. "Yeah," Hiten murmured, "And it's only a matter of time before Ranbou comes to terms with that."

"Before I come to terms with what?"

The boys were stunned out of their wits as Ranbou came walking up to them, covered in sea water and salt. Hakkaku muttered, "So unfair, getting covered in water so we can't smell him."

"We were just talking about the line-up for the race this Saturday. I know I already told you, but we want to take two drag slots this time. You're just gonna have to come to terms with the fact that we're moving up in the lines; the Cobras are a lot more well respected than we used to be," Bankotsu entered smoothly, covering for their conversation.

Snorting, Ranbou took a seat beside his friends. "You may be more respected, but the Reikons are still better racers. If you really want a spot, go talk to Sesshomaru."

The others let out relieved sighs, seeing as though they hadn't been caught, and Bankotsu decided to conveniently ignore the insult just paid to his gang. The boys sat in silence for a moment before Ranbou asked, "Anyone got a smoke?"

Hiten reached for his pocket, yet hesitated for a moment. "You've been smokin' a lot lately, Bo. Anything up there?" he asked suspiciously.

Yet, for his efforts, the thunder demon only received a snort. Ranbou leaned back on his palms, staring up at the clear blue sky as his claws dug into the sand. "You insinuatin' somethin, Hiten?"

"No," Hiten replied shortly, tossing his friend a cigarette. "Just sayin', is all."

Ranbou grabbed a lighter, which Bankotsu so graciously provided in his outstretched hand, and flicked the wheel. As he inhaled on the cigarette, Ranbou thought back to the past few days. He'd been smoking up a storm, for sure, no matter where he was: working on a car, which was a terrible idea, riding his motorcycle, spending time with his friends, leading the gang. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel this constant nervousness, this constant presence in the back of his mind? Sure, Ranbou had impecable instincts, almost to the point of clairvoyance, but was this normal? He knew this anxiousness surrounded the central point of Naraku; the guy was simply creepy and up to no good. But why did Ranbou get a knot in his gut whenever he imagined Naraku's snarling face?

Before the boy could answer his own immortal questions, he heard a distinct voice chattering lightly away with two deeper tones; it was Shitora, talking to someone near the shore. Lowering his eyebrows, Ranbou turned to face the voices and blinked; Shitora was flirting with two well built guys, flaunting her breasts openly. A sudden boiling anger consumed Ranbou as he watched the display, finally placing those boys' faces: they were Dragons.

Leaping to his feet, Ranbou stormed over in the direction of the three, yelling around his cigarette. "Sukini! What tha hell do ya think yer doin?"

Shitora turned abruptly, lips slightly parted and amber eyes thoroughly confused. "Talking?" she asked confusedly, too stunned by Ranbou's strange outburst to appear angry.

Ranbou snarled, "They ain't worth yer words, Sukini. Those are Dragons."

Shitora whirled on the two boys, who shrugged and exchanged glances; they hadn't thought this would mean much of anything, seeing as though this was just some random girl. Sure, she looked slightly familiar, but the two boys were human and couldn't sense anything amiss. Shitora recalled the face of Ryuukoytsusei and lowered her eyebrows, pretty face contorting in twisted rage.

"You bastards!"

She was about to lash out at them when Ranbou caught her around the waist, trying to ignore the feeling of her bare skin on his as he dragged her backwards. "Sukini, cut it out!" he yelled, hauling her bodily backwards without so much as a second glance at the Dragons. "You two, get outta here," he said dismissively without turning towards them, continuing to tug the girl back with him.

The two boys, a blonde and a brunette, exchanged a second glance before turning to head back towards their friends down the beach. That fiery girl would be of a great interest to Ryuukoytsusei and, as the boys knew, it was best to keep their leader happy. Perhaps this girl would get him out of his long time funk.

Meanwhile, the commotion near the waterfront had alerted the others and they were watching curiously from their towels; all they could see was Ranbou hauling Shitora backwards while the girl yelled obsceneties at two retreating boys. Sesshomaru blinked, sitting up slightly from his position on the ground; Rin was beside him, sleeping soundly as she hugged him around his middle. Truth be told, Sesshomaru had been drifting off when he was awakened by the sound of his sister's yelling.

Inuyasha, who'd been comparing and constrating the Rocky movies with Kagome, glanced up as well. Taking in the scene with narrowed eyes, he muttered, "What the hell," before rising unceremoniously and leaving Kagome behind.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called after him, sitting up and readjusting her blue bikini strap. "Shit," she murmured, standing to her feet and hurrying after him. "They'll never get along if everyone's constantly mediating their arguments," she complained to herself, putting on an extra burst of speed to keep Inuyasha in line.

"Ranbou!" Inuyasha called, jogging up to his friend. "What the hell's goin on?"

Ranbou, who was still trying to control a wildly flailing Shitora, grunted in response, "Will you calm her down!"

Inuyasha was about to round on his sister when Kagome came seemingly out of no where, rushing to Inuyasha's aid. "Shitora? Calm down already, your practically kicking Ranbou's face in!"

Yet Shitora only replied in a strained voice, "The bastards! Dragons!"

Inuyasha and Kagome were able to put two and two together as they watched the two boys' retreating backs down the way and Inuyasha snarled, "Lousy assholes, whad they try to do!"

Before anyone could answer, Shitora stopped flailing her arms and took a deep breath, mentally and spiritually calming herself. Though she and Inuyasha shared the same temper, the younger girl could sometimes control it while Inuyasha could not. Finally, Ranbou felt comfortable enough to release his hold and Shitora steadied herself, contenting her rage by staring after the traitorous boys. "How dare they, acting like some normal kids on the beach. Assholes."

It looked as though the episode was over, yet Ranbou wasn't one to let it slide. "You oughta be more careful, Sukini. You women always get yourselves in trouble cause you ain't paying attention."

One look at Ranbou's smug face and Shitora's anger returned full blast. "We 'women?' What the hell is that supposed to mean! I was just trying to have a conversation, you know, talking? Oh, sorry, I forgot; you don't talk, you just fuck your dates," the white haired girl said sharply.

"Hey, he's right, you gotta be more careful!" Inuyasha interrupted, saddling up beside Ranbou with his muscular arms crossed commandingly.

"Wait, you mean she can't even flirt a little? Shitora's a grown girl, Inuyasha, I think she knows how to handle herself," Kagome entered in, moving to stand at Shitora's side.

"That's right!" Shitora exclaimed triumphantly, grinning at Kagome.

"No, that's wrong!" Ranbou interrupted. "If you knew how to handle yourself, you wouldn't be turned shit side up by two Dragons!"

"He's right, you can't trust anyone, not when you're a Fang," Inuyasha interjected proudly.

Shitora was practically crawling with ire as she screamed, "What's that got to do with anything!"

"You got honor to uphold!" Inuyasha returned.

"Inuyasha, that's crap," Kagome said irritatedly. "She's just trying to-"

"That ain't crap and you'd know it if you were actually part of a gang and not just watching from the sidelines!" Inuyasha reversed cruelly, practically spitting out Kagome's biggest insecurity to her face.

At the reminder of her downfall, Kagome felt tears pricking her eyes, yet she refused to cry, not in front of _him. _"Just when I think you're a great guy, you turn out to be a total asshole!" she shrieked, fists clenched at her sides.

"Isn't that the way with all men!" Shitora agreed loudly, accidentally letting out her claws with a distinctive chink. The angrier she became, the less control she had over her faculties.

Ranbou spluttered, "With men? Why I oughta..."

"Bring it on, bastard!"

Hiten, Bankotsu, Hakkaku and Ginta had meanwhile joined Sesshomaru and Rin at their towel site, which was located just adjacent to Kouga and Ayame. The eight were watching the scene farther out on the beach with mild interest, shaking their heads at the stupidity of it all. Inuyasha and Kagome were normally great friends, but one little thing could set them off at each other. As far as Ranbou and Shitora went, general consensus stated that neither were meant to speak to the other. Ever.

"It's times like this when I wonder why we're here on this planet," Ayame said dryly, never removing her eyes from the four yelling gang members.

"How could the higher power make such stupid creatures?" Hiten agreed, shaking his head.

"Oh please," Rin said softly, leaning back against Sesshomaru's strong chest. "They're in love; let it go."

Everyone else just chuckled while Kouga glanced over at Miroku and Sango. He was barely looking for a moment when Miroku tried something a little too daring and slap another red mark graced his cheek. Sango's high pitched screeching now added to to the melee of unearthly wails and angry words, which permeated the humid sea air.

"Every day, all of them get together and fight about everything when everyone knows they're just flirting. How fucked up is that?" Hakkaku asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That's life," Rin muttered. "I just wish we could help them or something."

There was a silence between the teens before Bankotsu cocked his head to the side and murmured, "Maybe we can..."

Sesshomaru shifted his gaze towards his fellow leader, raising one stately eyebrow. "I trust you aren't suggesting that we play matchmaker, Bankotsu."

"Matchmaker? Us? No way," Bankotsu assured him with his usual carefree smile. "I'm just suggesting that we give them a friendly push in the right direction."

The others exchanged glances, wondering if this idea could really have a basis to it; if they were found out by any of the three couples, they could potentially lose their trust and friendship forever. But, if they somehow succeeded, maybe they could bring the lovers together and stop all this ridiculous fighting once and for all. Besides, with their cunning minds joining together to plan, how could they go wrong?

"But Bank, how would we...go about this?" Ayame asked, slightly confused.

The boy laughed a little, tossing his black braid behind his shoulder. "Easy, girl. We just tell one that the other likes them and then vice versa. Eventually, we have everyone thinking that everyone else likes them, they start being nice to each other and bingo! We have ourselves a big, goopy, steamy, disgusting pile of romance!"

Kouga wrinkled his nose. "You make it sound like a pile of shit or something."

"Less revolting images, please," Rin said irritatedly, rolling her eyes. "Besides, how do we even know that'll work? Why should they believe us?"

Hiten jumped in on his friend's behalf, adopting a smooth smirk. "Because we're their trusted friends and brethren. We're together through thick and thin, right? Why should we lie?"

There was a brief silence as they others dilberated, wondering if using trust and friendship against their comrades was a good idea. But it truly was for their own good, wasn't it? Hakkaku and Ginta exchanged glances as though trying to decide together.

"I dunno, what if they find out?" Hakkaku reasoned, sounding unconvinced.

"Then we deny everything," Bankotsu replied immedeately. "Being in a gang has its perks; we're all great liars, right?"

The others nodded begrudgingly, knowing that everyone in the group could lie their way out of incarceration, prison time, and probably the death penalty. After years of practice, any skill could be seemingly mastered; lying was no different.

"But, I mean, they're no idiots," Rin pointed out, glancing over at her feuding friends several meters away. "Well...okay, we could probably fool Ranbou and Shitora, probably even Inuyasha and Miroku, but Sango and Kagome? C'mon, let's face it; they're smart."

"She's right," Sesshomaru murmured in his deep, soothing voice. "My idiot brother and my idiot friends are easily blind sided. Sango and Kagome, however, are much to clever for such simple tricks."

Bankotsu just grinned maniacally. "That's why we'd whip up a special plan for them. They couldn't just be told; they'd have to feel like they'd found out themsevles. We could expand on that later, though. For now, we just have to make the decision and take the plunge. Who's in?"

He glanced around the circle and the unsure faces, raising his eyebrows. After a moment, Rin stuck in her hand. "I'm in; I want to see them all happy."

At this incentive, Ayame followed suite. "Me too."

Kouga shrugged in a carefree manner, smiling blithely. "As long as I get to have my brother; I want to get him back for years of torture."

Hiten grinned, sticking in his hand as well. "Hey, what the hell, if it'll stop the fighting."

"Amen," Ginta and Hakkaku said in unison, sticking in their hands at the thought of peace and quiet.

After a moment, during which everyone looked at Sesshomaru to gauge his reaction, the stately Fang leader said, "Only because I've nothing better to do."

Bankotsu just grinned at his friend's characteristic response. "Then it's decided; plan 'Hook-up' starts now."

And thus the evil plans of mice and men were laid.

**Okay. So I started this chapter...and then I was scared away when I realized how involved it would be. But then I came back and, bit by bit, worked it back up until it included everything I'd planned. I'm one of those people who plans out their chapters before they start, just so I know the plot and everything. Sometimes I don't realize how much the chapter is going to include before I start, woops, my bad. Thanks for not leaving, anyway. To top it all off, some weird things have been going on with school and I have stomach problems and life is taxing, you know? Of course you do; we're writers. That's taxing enough. **

**KOLU**


	10. Operation HookUp in Motion

**Woot! I'm turning out the chapter now! I do this, where I get inspiration and motivation in little spurts and I run with it. Thanks for all the positive feed back guys, knowing you have support makes it easier to write! Okay, on with the story...**

**P.S, sorry for any errors but I'm using word pad and I proof read as best I could. Sometimes I put 'd' instead of 's' at the end of a word, so sorry.**

"...good morning Tokyo! It looks like it will be another scorcher out here today, folks, ranging from a low of 97 to a high of 108! National census says that this summer ranks among the most virile in years in history and it looks like farmers in the north will have a difficulty cultivating much of anything this year. In other news, the NAMO exploratory weapons factory was robbed last night at 2:07 by an unidentified group of vagrants. Police say they have no immedeate leads, but have concluded that whoever planned the attack went in with malicious intent. If you see anything strange or know something that might be connected to the robbery, please call the Tokyo Anonymous Tip line. The number is coming right along after these sponsors..."

The radio echoed around the warehouse, creating a hum of background noise behind the wrenching and screeching of drills. A big race was taking place in four days and, due to this fact, many other gang members had brought in their cars to be worked on. At the current time, each elevator held a vehicle while seven motorcycles were parked further back in the building. Outside, Sango was working away on someone's black RX-7, tuning up the engine and upping the mods.

Sesshomaru, who was wrenching away at a lug nut, listened half heartedly to the radio announcer. The factory robbery had been plaguing the news since that morning, squeezing into the corners of Sesshomaru's mind like an itch he couldn't scratch. Something about the circumstances annoyed him, as though somehow he thought the gangs and this incident were involved, yet the dog demon quickly brushed aside the very idea. He knew none of the Southerners would do something that openly illegal, and the Northerners were none of his concern until they pointed the weapons at his head. In this instance, the only thing Sesshomaru could do was bide his time and see how the events unfolded.

Hakkaku wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, regripping a wrench as more sweat trickled down his bare chest. He and Kouga had been working on this damned Harley Davidson for two hours now and neither could figure out why the engine wouldn't start. Hakkaku hesitated a glance at his leader, whose ice blue eyes were narrowed in concentration, long dark hair swung up in its usual high ponytail. Now would be a good time to slip in a casual word about Shitora, in accordance with Operation Hookup, but he had to make it subtle.

"So, Bo, whadya think about Shitora coming back to town?" Hakkaku asked casually.

Shrugging, Ranbou never removed his eyes from the underbelly of the motorcycle. "Was only a matter of time, I guess. Sukini plus a prep school couldn't have equalled a good time, know what I mean?"

"Heh heh, yeah," the wolf demon chuckled, running a hand nervously along the ridge of his mohawk. "She sure pays you a lot of attention, huh?"

Ranbou paused in his work, staring up at Hakkaku from the floor. "What?"

Hakkaku swallowed and continued bravely on. "Well, yeah, I mean she's always talking to you, even if she does call you shit and tell you to go to hell. And then when you aren't together, she talks more shit about you. It's like you're always on her mind."

When Ranbou said nothing and only continued to stare up at Hakkaku with his piercing blue eyes, Hakkaku began to feel slightly uncomfortable. The Reikon leader said finally, "Hakkaku, what exactly are you tryin' to say?"

Shifting his eyes back and forth, Hakkaku finally managed to say, "I think Shitora...likes you. I mean, likes you likes you."

"WHAT!" Ranbou yelled, eyes blazing with unbidden fire and fangs barring at the very idea.

Swiftly accompanying this yell were several successive bangs as mechanics hit their heads on car hoods, groaning as they massaged their skulls. From where he was working on a yellows Corvette, Inuyasha screamed, "God damnit, Ranbou! What the hell was that for!"

Ranbou, whose anger seemed to have faded almost instantly into disbelief, called out a dazed, "Sorry," before turning back to Hakkaku, who seemed pleased by this reaction. "She...likes me? Like, relationship, hugs and kisses, dating likes me? What makes you think that?"

Hakkaku shrugged menially, leaning back against the motorcycle to stare at his leader. "Just call it intuition; I'm not the only one that thinks so. She's so love sick and idiot could figure it out. Maybe you're just blinded by your own feelings for her."

Snorting, Ranbou replied, "My feelings of hatred?"

"No," Hakkaku replied silkily, "Your feelings of love."

There was a brief pause as Ranbou regarded his smug friend with a look of absolutely silent loathing. "You think that I love Sukini," he growled lowly.

Hakkaku, still running off the success from their previous conversation, responded smoothly, "In you own way, yeah."

"Look, Hak. She may love me but I'm miles away from loving her back. Alright? To me, she'll always be Shomo's annoying little sister with the flat chest," Ranbou replied shortly, crossing his arms to emphasize his point.

Shrugging, Hakkaku said, "Suit yourself. But in case you haven't noticed, more than one guy is waiting to move in on her. She isn't Sukini anymore, Bo. She's a hot Wildcat chick with a great ass." When Ranbou opened his mouth to protest, Hakkaku cut in, "Don't pretend like you haven't noticed."

While Hakkaku leaned down to tweak some mods on the motorcycle, Ranbou hestitated a glance over at Shitora, who was working on a Porsche with her back to him. It looked as though she were installing a new tail pipe, though Ranbou hardly took notice of that; he was just content to look at _her. _Truly, she wasn't Sukini anymore, was she? Her white hair, which used to be ratty and mangled, was now shimmering and healthy, flowing in straight sheets down her back. Her body, as well, had grown over time. When the girl crouched down, bending forward slightly to adjust the pipe position, Ranbou bit back a groan; there was that perfect ass again. Damn it all to hell.

Kagome and Inuyasha were working silently on the engine of a Mazda CX-7, never meeting eyes and never speaking except for Inuyasha's tool requests. The pair had been awkward since the beach yesterday, when Inuyasha had used Kagome's insecurities about the gangs against her. Just when one would try to say something, the other would open their mouth and both would shut them again, returning quietly to their work.

Inuyasha, who had never much been one for silence, was overcome with a soul-eating guilt; the day before, he'd seen the hurt in Kagome's eyes when he'd mentioned how she wasn't part of a gang. It was as though someone had just confirmed her greatest fears and Inuyasha couldn't have felt worse. Just seeing Kagome sad ruined his day and damn him if he couldn't understand why.

"Kagome," he started quietly, setting down his wrench on the car's fender. The girl looked up at him, brown eyes slightly duller than normal; Inuyasha hated to admit it, but he sorely missed her smile. When she said nothing, he continued. "About what I said yesterday..."

"Don't worry about it, Inuyasha, I was just being stupid," Kagome said dismissively, looking down again and reaching into the tool box. "Don't you need a lugnut wrench for the pistons?"

"Kagome, stop it," Inuyasha commanded.

Yet, Kagome paid him no heed. "That engine looked pretty messed up as far as I could see, though I really wouldn't know. Perhaps a 3 mm?"

"Kagome..."

"Yes, I think a 3 mm will do just fine. If not we can try th-"

"Kagome, cut it out and look at me!" Inuyasha said with a hint of desperation.

Sighing, Kagome let the lugnut wrench drop back into the tool box and turned to face him, seeming slightly ashamed. "Sorry. I just...I know I shouldn't expect to be part of the Wildcats right away, and it's not like I want to fill Kikyo's place, but they string me along and treat me like their friend everyday. So...what does that mean, huh? That I'm the stupid mascot? Or does it mean something worse, like that they don't trust me." Kagome looked so disheartened and her voice became so quiet that Inuyasha feared she might burst into tears.

"Kagome," Inuyasha started, crouching down at taking a seat on the floor, "We all trust you, believe me; you haven't given anybody a reason not to. Besides that, it isn't normal for an outsider to come in and accept the whole gang thing; most of them would freak out and call the police or some shit. But you were different and we could all see that. It isn't that the Wildcats don't trust you...I have a theory, but it might be totally off."

Startled by Inuyasha's suddenly wise words, Kagome cocked her head to the side and murmured, "Tell me; I bet you're closer than you think."

"Well, I think it might be about the Wildcats hoping Kikyo will get better and come back in a few weeks time. We all know it'll take a lot longer than that, but they all miss her. Kikyo leaving made this huge void and I bet you understand that if you've met her. You have, haven't you?"

Kagome nodded, adjusting her crossed legs. "Yeah. I can't explain it, but she seemed so...big. Not in the size way, but in a different way. Like there was too much person for one body. Even in the hospital, she seemed totally full of life and even a little bit crazy. I felt intimidated, but welcomed at the same time."

Smiling, Inuyasha leaned back against the car's grill and replied quietly, "You really get her. That's Kikyo, alright, too much person for one body. I think maybe that's her problem; a beautiful girl walking around with a huge personality is like a hotel for all sorts of disorders. You know?"

"I guess you're right," Kagome agreed, leaning back on her hands. "She was Sango's best friend, right?"

The hanyou shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Sango balanced out Kikyo's wacky shit most of the time. Like ying and yang, almost. If this whole thing bothers Sango, we'd never know it though. Talk about a person who keeps what they think quiet."

Kagome glanced out the warehouse at Sango, who was working busily away in the scorching heat. Truth be told, Kagome had never met a person with more discipline and work ethic than Sango. The girl was also reliable and loyal, making her the perfect member of the Wildcats; everyone could trust her.

"Yeah, I've noticed that. It can't be healthy, can it? Keeping it all inside?" Kagome asked thoughtfully.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Who knows. One day, Sango might blow shit side up. But, until then, we just gotta figure she doesn't care."

As Sango worked busily away on the RX-7, trying to ignore the sun as it beat down on her bare skin, she tried to think of nothing but the engine. Fuel into the chamber, compression, combustion, exit through the valve. Engines made a ridiculous amount of sense in the fact that problems could be predicted by another problem. Problem A could lead to complication B, which could call for the replacement of Part C and so on. Sango liked her cars that way and, frankly, would've appreciated her life that way. If perhaps she could predict problems or systematically pick apart every tribulation, she could finally feel as though she, Sango Tajiya, was in control of her own life.

Bankotsu, unaware of this great internal struggle which was taking place within Sango, strolled up wiping his hands on a grease rag. Glancing briefly up at the sky, blinking against the heat of the sun, Bankotsu strolled up to Sango and leaned against the passenger's side of the car.

"Hey."

Without looking up from her work, Sango replied, "Yeah."

"So, you got a date to the race?"

A muffled volice from under the hood replied, "Nope. I don't plan on getting one and I know you're not asking me."

Shrugging, Bankotsu pushed himself up until he was sitting on the roof. "I dunno," he said menially, resting his feet on the bottom of the windshield and balancing his elbows on his knees. "Maybe someone actually will ask you. Someone you really want to go with. You know who I'm talking about."

"No, sorry, don't know who you're talking about," Sango replied dully as she methodically cleaned a piston.

"I think you do," Bankotsu said quietly. "And his name is Miroku Houshi."

There was a brief silence, during which the only sound was the strain of Sango's grease rag against the metal of the piston. As she held the piston up to the sunlight, examining her work with a critical eye, Sango murmured, "This piston would fit nicely up your ass."

Holding up his hands in a surrendering sort of gesture, Bankotsu jumped casually off the car and began a steady walk towards the warehouse. "Just think about it."

And with that he was gone, hands in his pockets and mouth whistling a far away tune. For the first time during the conversation, Sango let her eyes drift from her work towards a familiar figure inside. Miroku was elbow deep in the guts of a rather greasy Mitsubishi, asking Ginta for tools every so often. In that moment, he looked totally focused and not the least bit perverted, a feat with Sango had great appreciation for. Sighing, Sango turned back to the car and focused her mind. Problem A leads to complication B, which calls for Part C to be replaced. Nice and predictable.

Rin took a deep breath and recradled the phone against her ear. "Jakotsu, I'm sure we can do something. I mean, it's just the transmission, right?"

"Just the transmission! Bitch, please! It's the whole inside! I thought Inuyasha fixed it!" came the feminine voice across the line.

At that moment, Rin became aware of footsteps behind her and she turned, smiling as a shirtless and sweaty Sesshomaru came strolling up to her. Turning back dutifully to her phone call, Rin reasoned, "But did you check the fluids? What about the warranty?"

"Warranty? Rin, we stole the pickup three years ago! You can't pick up a warranty on stolen cars!" Jakotsu argued shrilly.

Sesshomaru, who seemed to care very little about Rin's current engagement, leaned down and began planting soft kissed on the flesh of her neck. Squeaking slightly at the sudden contact, Rin moved her head to allow him better access as she tried to continue with her phone call. "Right. Stolen, I forgot. Well, bring it on in and we'll take...look...another...bring in..."

The girl's words became increasingly incoherent as Sesshomaru moved farther downward, threatening to move underneath Rin's sports bra into a far more forbidden area. As her boyfriend's beautiful silver hair fell around her like a curtain, Rin gasped and bit her lip; just a minute more. "Bring it in and we'll look at it. Bye."

With that, Rin allowed the phone to drop from her ear onto the table and she turned in her seat, intercepting Sesshomaru's lips in a powerful kiss. The two were becoming increasingly intimate when Inuyasha walked by, rolling his eyes and exclaiming loudly, "Oh, get a room."

Breaking the kiss, Sesshomaru sighed heavily and rested his forehead against Rin's. "Is it still a felony to kill a relative?"

"I wouldn't know, but I wouldn't try," Rin giggled, kissing the tip of Sesshomaru's nose in her typical cute way.

While Inuyasha fiddled with the cap of his beer in the back, Ayame took the opportunity to work her way towards Kagome, smiling and glancing inside the car to examine Inuyasha's work. "Hey Kags, how we doin?"

"Good," Kagome replied blithely. "You?"

"Fine, just fine," Ayame replied listlessly, totally focused on the cars inards...or at least she appeared to be. Inside the redhead's head, cogs were turning at lightning speed as she tried desperately to devise a plan. As a vital member of Operation Hookup, Ayame felt it her duty to convince Kagome of her love for Inuyasha; unfortunately, the girl wouldn't be easily persuaded. Ayame would need to work up something totally outlandish to even buy Kagome's attention.

"You know," Ayame began casually, "guys around here have a thing for girls who race cars."

Kagome blinked, cocking her head to the side. "Really? I hadn't noticed. I thought they had a thing for girls who sat on the sideline and shook their ass."

Ayame laughed heartily, recognizing this comment as just another example of Kagome's sarcastic humor. "Well, that too. No, I'm talking about a few guys in particular. I mean, you have Ranbou," Ayame continued, glancing over at Ranbou, who was still working on the Harley. "In case you couldn't tell, he's a sucker for Shitora. You could see that, right?"

Kagome nodded, giggling. "They're so in love it's cute."

Sighing at the usage of the word "cute," perhaps her least favorite word in the whole of any language, Ayame replied dryly, "Yeah, cute. Then you have Bankotsu, who hooks up with about any racer with a vagina."

The two girls looked over at Bankotsu, who was taking a break and sipping beers with Hiten. "Then there's one we know a lot better. Inuyasha."

Kagome instinctively glanced over at Inuyasha, who was popping the top on a Budweiser in the corner. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Kagome repeated, "Inuyasha?"

"Mhmm," Ayame replied slowly, knowing she had Kagome hooked. Picking up a wrench in her hand, Ayame leaned in to continue Inuyasha's work where he'd left off, pretending as though everything were normal. "Inuyasha. He can't stand his women helpless and giggly. Wearing their Abercrombie and shaking their breasts in his face, nope, Inuyasha needs a real woman. Kikyo came close, but no cigar. She couldn't race to save her life; I think that chick got more speeding tickets for going under the speed limit than she did for going over. But if some girl came along like a devil in leather racing fast machines, I bet she'd steal Inuyasha pretty fast."

Kagome was quiet for a moment, digesting this information while trying, subconciously, to divide the information logically. Her first inclination was to believe Ayame was setting her up, trying to get her to conform to Wildcat standards and take Kikyo's place in the core. But Kagome didn't want that, not Kikyo's place. She wanted to carve out her own place in the core and take her spot like a brave woman would, without the pittering and pattering around Kikyo's loss. But besides this, why would Ayame want to set Kagome up? Did she want her and Inuyasha to get together? But why? What was her motive? Still, Kagome had to admit the idea of calling Inuyasha her's was rather pleasing.

_Wait a god damn second! Kagome! What the hell are you thinking? Inuyasha? And you? Dare to dream, girl, he's like a wildfire; he can't be tamed. But wouldn't it be great if you could...no, no, no, there's no way. Unless...unless I learned how to race...NO! You'd be an awful racer...that isn't true, you'd probably rock at it, but still, it's crazy. It'd be like conforming to the standards, giving in to the man! Racing just to get Inuyasha's attention, pah, that's retarded. Oh crap, now I can't stop seeing his face. Damnit, damnit, damnit..._

_"_DAMNIT!" Kagome exclaimed aloud, drawing quite a bit of attention to herself.

The others stopped in the work, turning to face Kagome with questioning eyes. Laughing nervously, Kagome waved away their concern. "Haha, it's nothing, just...banged my thumb is all..."

Shrugging, the others returned to their business while Inuyasha came strutting purposefully over. "Kagome, what's up?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Nothing," she muttered, glancing down into the tool box.

Ayame removed her hands from the car's guts, wiping her hand on a grease rag and placing the wrench in Inuyasha's outstretched hand. "She was thinking a little too hard and she hit her thumb on the toolbox. Nothing a little kiss couldn't fix."

With that, the redhead strolled languidly away from the scene of her crimes, smiling devilishly to herself as she imagined the stunned looks on both Inuyasha and Kagome's faces. What could they possibly be thinking right then? How embarassed they were? Or how they wished Ayame was right and it was all that simple? Just one kiss could fix it all, couldn't it? Just one kiss...

"I'm worried."

Shitora glanced up from the car blueprints she'd been examining on the work table, raising an eyebrow at Ranbou's random comment. "About..." she trailed off, leaving him to fill in the blank.

Trying to ignore her cute confused stare, Ranbou sighed and hopped up on the tool table, sitting back against the wall to enjoy his beer. "About all of them." Using the bottle to gesture around the warehouse, Ranbou indicated the plethera of people working busily away on their machines.

Shitora blinked, ears twitching back and forth like satellites, before she returned her amber stare to Ranbou. "They look okay to me," she commented, returning to her blueprints.

Ranbou gave an irritated growl, an animalistic wolf sound in the back of his throat, and leapt down from the table, slamming his beer down in the middle of the car plans.

"No, Sukini, I mean worried about something they might be planning. Did you notice anything funny with them today? How they kept on looking at us, giggling, being weird?"

Shitora, who's left eyebrow was beginning to twitch restlessly, only crossed her arms and regarded Ranbou with mild disdain. "No, I didn't notice, because there was nothing _to _notice, because I'm not ridiculously paranoid, like _you_. Now, if you'll excuse me, some of us have real work to do."

Without so much as another word, Shitora set Ranbou's beer bottle to the side and continued reviewing the papers. Rolling his eyes desperately, Ranbou continued, "No, I think they got a plan or somethin! I mean, out of the blue Hakkaku brings up some shit about...well, about a subject that could only have a plan behind it! And then Kagome over there 'bangs her thumb.' What's that about? Kagome ain't careless, far as I can tell. And then Sango makes some kinda threat bad enough to make Bankotsu skedaddle back inside like she'd lit his underwear on fire. Don't you see what they're doin?"

Eyes completely blank, Shitora glanced tiredly back up at the frazzled wolf demon; she knew that, until she gave his proposal some kind of thought, he wouldn't leave her alone. "Fine, Bou, I'll bite. No, what are they doing?"

"They're trying to get us all to fall fer each other!" Ranbou exclaimed.

Unbeknownst to Shitora, Sango, Miroku, Kagome or Inuyasha, Ranbou was absolutely right. He'd hit the nail right on the head, the nail being Operation Hookup, but it was merely coincidence that he'd guessed correctly. Wolf demons are notorious for their ridiculously heightened instincts, so his paranoia seemed normal. Yet, somehow, the garrulous and normally slow on the up-take Ranbou Ookami had stumbled upon the solid truth; his friends were organized in a plan to rally against his will.

But Shitora, who was a rather intelligent girl for her age, found the idea proposterous. "Wolf-boy, I think you've officially lost your mind. You can join Kikyo in the Pysch Ward cause you ain't gettin better any time soon." And with that cold comment, Shitora returned, for the umpteenth time, to her work.

Ranbou furrowed his brow. "Wait, you think she'll never get better?"

Shitora paused, still staring down at the pages though her eyes never moved. Had she seriously just said that outloud? Sure, Shitora had just come back to town recently, but she'd taken time to visit Kikyo; they were old friend too, weren't they? Shitora was a people oriented person, one who made it her business to understand the working of human and demon beings. As a self proclaimed anthropologist, Shitora could tell Kikyo wasn't really going to get better. It was something in her eyes, those cold, looming pools of grease, that let it out. Like she didn't even want to get better.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Shitora mumbled under her breath, walking to the tool bench to grab a wrench, socket and four lugnuts. Ranbou followed her, seeming concerned about her idea.

"Sukini...I mean, c'mon, it's Kikyo! She can beat this thing!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms akimbo and unintentionally sending some beer sloshing out of the bottle.

Shitora didn't respond and only carried everything back to the work bench, setting down the tools and using a ruler and pencil to make some tick marks on the blueprints. When his encouraging words didn't illicit a reaction, Ranbou sighed and set his neglected beer down on the tool table, shuffling over to where Shitora was standing, frozen. She'd paused in her work and her head was angle down, as though she didn't want Ranbou to see her eyes.

"You gotta have more faith than that, Sukini. Kikyo's a strong lady, I oughta know. She kicked my ass more than once. And besides...I believe that everything happens for a reason," Ranbou said quietly, all trace of humor gone.

Without glancing up, Shitora asked dully, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well," Ranbou began, saddling up beside the girl, "It's like this. I think that Kikyo was meant to cheat on Inuyasha, who was meant to catch her and break up with her, and he was meant to tell us all it happened. Sesshomaru was meant to tell Rin she needed to kick Kikyo out, Rin was meant to be brave enough to do it. Kikyo was meant to break down into hysteria when Rin told her she was out and Rin was meant to be rich so that she could sign up Kikyo in the hospital. I don't think fate would've put us through all that just to have Kikyo die a crazed depressed nympho."

Blinking as she tried to take in all this information, Shitora glanced up mildly at Ranbou and said bewilderdly, "How do you know? What if fate just wants to kick the shit out of us?"

Ranbou just smiled in his teasing way, ice blue eyes twinkling with good humor. "I have more faith in fate than that. And you should too, Sukini."

Giving the girl a brief squeeze on the shoulders, Ranbou strolled back over to continue his work on the Harley Davidson, leaving Shitora standing there with her mouth gaping. Had Ranbou just bested her in a conversation of wits? And had he just made a ridiculous amount of sense? And had he been...nice to her?

Before Shitora could continue sorting out these odd details, Rin bounced up and planted herself right in the middle of Shitora's blue prints. "Heya!"

Jumping slightly at Rin's appearance, Shitora took in a breath and mumbled, "Yeah, hi."

"You look so angsty right now, I won't lie," Rin said conversationally, swinging her legs back and forth off the edge of the work desk.

Shitora rolled her eyes and said moodily, "Whadya want?"

Puckering her lips in a heart breaking pouty face, Rin said sadly, "Onwy to invite you to a pawty!"

"A party?" Shitora asked suddenly, ears perking up at the very word.

Delighted by the girl's change in attitude, Rin clapped her hands together and repeated, "A party! Girls night out at my house tonight, gossiping, stupid girl things we never do like painting finger nails and lots of junk food. I think men are starting to rub off on all of us."

"I don't know what you mean," Shitora said with a grin threatening to overcome her face; right behind Rin's head, Ayame and Kouga were engaged in a spitting contest, seeing who could spit around a cigarette onto the beer bottle ten feet away. But Rin didn't have to know that, right?

"Psht, well, they are. We're leaving in five, so get your shit together," Rin finished, leaping off the desk to go gather her papers.

Sesshomaru walked up behind his girlfriend, who was putting things in order at the work desk near the living quarters. Furrowing his brow, Sesshomaru asked, "Going somewhere?"

"Girl's night out tonight," Rin replied excitedly, putting some work in her purse to take home. "You know, gossiping, and stories, and junk food. Girls do that kind of thing, we're all going."

"Tonight? Like the whole night?" Sesshomaru all but groaned, closing the gap between them and snaking his arms around her waist.

Rin giggled naughtily, winking at Sesshomaru. "Yes the whole night, you horn dog. Tomorrow night we'll have a sleep over, just the two of us, I promise."

Sesshomaru sighed, leaning down to place a big sloppy kiss on Rin's cheek. The girl let out a shrieking laugh, struggling against Sesshomaru's hold while he grinned in her face. Inuyasha glanced over and rolled his eyes, cleaning grease off his drill cap.

"Man, those two are gross," he exclaimed, shaking his head.

Kagome followed his gaze and smiled. "I dunno, I think they're cute. Who would figure a guy like Sesshomaru for a girl like Rin?"

"I dunno, I'll just tell ya it's been a long three years fer me," Inuyasha muttered, tossing the grill cap into the toolbox. Glancing up, the boy noticed Kagome grabbing for her white singlet and slipping it on, preparing to grab her purse. "Leaving early?" he asked, secretly sad to see her go.

"Yeah, girls night out at Rin's tonight. Something she came up with, I don't know. All of us are going," Kagome replied, adjusting her top irritatedly; it was already sticking to her skin in the heat.

Setting his jaw, Inuyasha replied in mock proudness, "Well, maybe we'll just have a guys night out at my house. You know, can't have you girls setting the standards or nuthin."

Kagome just laughed, swiping his furry ears as she walked past him. "Chauvinist pig," she joked, winking at him before hurrying to join the gathering group of girls near the entrance.

The scene right now was Kouga refusing to let Ayame go, much to Ayame's simultaneous irritation and delight. "Kouga, let go," she whined, struggling against his hold around her waist.

"C'mon, baby, I thought tonight we'd have some alone time," he chuckled, growling suggestively in the back of his throat.

Even though his actions were ridiculous, they were part of the reason Ayame had fallen for him in the first place. Laughing at the ridiculous statement, she replied, "One more comment like that and I'm screaming 'rape.'"

Sango, who had since finished up her work on the RX-7, walked boldly over and grabbed Ayame by the arm, tugging her bodily away from Kouga's grip. "C'mon you two, we're ready to go, give it up."

The boys had gathered where the girls were likewise gathering, hoping to either prevent them for going or to see them off with their pride intact. It wasn't everyday that the girls just got up and left them for a girl's night out. What kind of message were they sending? Were the boys boring?

"I can't believe you all are just leaving us with all this work, shameful ladies," Miroku joked, earning chuckles from the girls.

"Don't you worry, Miroku. We're having a guys night out at my house," Inuyasha announced triumphantly, soliciting a shout of triumph from the crowd of males.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms placidly. "At your house? You mean my house, little brother."

Inuyasha just turned up his nose slightly, replying arrogantly, "It's more than one person's house, you know."

"Yeah," Shitora interrupted, "Like mine. You break shit, you die. And Shomo, lock my room, I don't want anything...taken...or...used for something nasty."

The girls all scrunched up their noses and made faces of disgust, giggling slightly at the images Shitora's insinuation evoked. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, ushering his sister out of the warehouse. "Yeah, yeah, none of your precious junk'll be touched. You're going home to get clothes right?"

"Duh," Shitora replied disdainfully, rolling her eyes at her brother's ignorance.

"Shitora, grab a house key," Sesshomaru reminded gently. "Have a good time," he added as an afterthought.

Shitora gave both her brother's brief hugs, waving good bye to the others as she joined the girls outside. They all got in their separate cars and motorcycles, following Rin's convertible as it pulled out of the gravel driveway. In no time, they were gone.

Kouga sighed, content to just stare at the horizon. "I wonder what they do at those girl parties."

"I dunno," Inuyasha mused. "You think we should...find out?"

Miroku blinked, glancing over at his best friend. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking...are you?"

"Oh, you know he is," Sesshomaru moaned, placing an agonized hand over his eyes. "How am I related to this person?"

"You know you want to see Rin in skimpy underwear, Shomo, don't even lie," Inuyasha joked, jabbing his brother in the side.

"I can see her in less than that if I choose," came Sesshomaru's reply, which illicited low sounds of approval from the other boys.

Trying to ignore the images in his mind, Inuyasha motioned for the guys to join him in a completely unnecessary huddle. "Okay guys, here's the plan. We'll call it 'Operation Corona'..." Upon receiving several odd glances, Inuyasha explained, "I'm really thirsty, so a guy thinks about his favorite beer, right?"

"How many Operations are we gonna have?" Ginta mumbled, earning a few sharp jabs to his abdomen, lest he reveal Operation Hookup.

As Inuyasha began to tell the details of his immature and irrational plan, the other boy's lapped up the very idea of crashing the girls' party. Sesshomaru only listened half heartedly to his brother's idiotic ideas, rolling his eyes skyward. This was going to be a very long night.

**Sweet! Chapter 10 and counting up. I'm guesstimating around 30 chapters there abouts, but I'm not sure. You never really know and I only plan about three chapters ahead so, really, there's no telling. Anyway, I thought I ought to let you know: this next chapter about the girls/guys night outs is gonna be hard to right and rather long, so don't expect it right away. This story is my prime objective right now, though, so I'll be focusing on it, not to worry. Thanks again for reviews! I love them dearly!**

**KOLU**


	11. The Slumber Party Part I

**Lol, I've been trying to access mediaminer for the past hour using internet tricks and google's cached. It's really, really amusing to watch me battle St. Bernard blocker software, I'll tell you that. Now, I've decided to try and use a new vocab word in each chapter and this chapter, the word is "sycophantic."**

**Sycophantic: a servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people**

**According to KOLU: ass kissers.**

**We'll see how this works out in this chapter, which will no doubt end up being my favorite.**

"College...can't believe that," Kouga murmured, taking a deeper drag on his cigarette.

While the others prepared for their full scale invasion of the girl's slumber party inside, Kouga and Sesshomaru lingered outside on the trampoline in the back yard, smoking cigarettes and talking about the future. Sesshomaru chuckled slightly, smoke escaping through his nostrils as he did so.

"Tell me about it," he replied, staring up at the dim stars with an old eye; dusk was just now beginning to fall.

"What are you thinking about doing? After the Fangs, I mean," Kouga asked, never removing his gaze from a shooting star.

Sesshomaru was completely silent for a moment, rolling his shoulders and causing a tremor throughout the trampoline. "I've though about medical school."

The only sound on the air was that of Kaede's flowers blowing in the evening breeze, mingling well with the windchimes on the back porch. Kouga couldn't think of a single word to say alongside this bold declaration; sure, he knew Sesshomaru was the most brilliant student in their class, but a doctor? He didn't seem like the voluntarily caring type. He loved his family, his gang and his girlfriend; that was about it.

"Medical school? To do what?" Kouga asked bewilderdly around his cigarette.

Sesshomaru quirked a silver eyebrow, puffing out a few smoke rings before replying, "To learn about medicine. That's what people do at medical school, Kouga."

Snorting, Kouga lifted a limp arm and smacked his best friend on the shoulder. "Duh, shit breath, I mean what would you study to be? A surgeon, an office guy, a nurse, what?"

Narrowing his eyes, Sesshomaru replied with a hint of humor, "I can tell you I wouldn't touch the nursing profession with a ten foot pole. I would probably want to be a surgeon."

After a moment, Kouga mused, "I bet you'd be pretty good at that, Shomo."

"So do I," Sesshomaru agreed, half hooding his magnificent golden eyes. "What about you?"

Kouga shrugged. "Mechanic. What else? I mean...it's what I'm best at. Thought I might open a shop with some of the guys. We could earn a lot of money doing that, you know. If we got ourselves a body shop, attach it to the garage, we could make a fortune. If Shitora would sign on to design, that is. Her and Rin."

Blinking, Sesshomaru finally said, "My baby sister is graduating."

Laughing a little, Kouga replied, "Well, yeah. We always knew she was a smart one, Shomo, helping us with our homework and shit. I mean, she's a year younger or something? Two years younger? She wasn't just shitting around up at school all this time. She was earning credits to graduate with all of us."

"I know the story, believe me," Sesshomaru lamented boredly, flicking his dead cigarette over the trampoline barrier. "I tried to talk dad out of it, saying she was too young to join our graduating class. But I think he's just waiting to get rid of her for good."

There was a silence between the two boys, one which was neither heavy nor light, uncomfortable nor friendly. Kouga knew what Sesshomaru thought about his father, but he still never brought up the subject on purpose. It only set his friend off in a terrible temper.

"You know," Kouga said suddenly, "What if we didn't just get jobs? I mean, everyone wants a family, right?"

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment, but finally said, "Most people do, I think."

"Well, what about marriage?" Kouga blurted out, closing his lips around the cigarette lest it fall back in his throat.

"What about it," Sesshomaru replied carefully.

Yet Kouga was stuck for words. "I mean...I guess...what if we...I got married?"

Again, the Fang leader was quiet until the moment seemed right. He finally asked, "To whom?"

"Ayame, of course," Kouga replied with a snort. "Who else would I get married to?" When Sesshomaru said nothing and only continued to stare at the sky, Kouga urged, "And what about you?"

Surprisingly, Sesshomaru didn't even hesitate and replied, "If I ever get married, it'll be to Rin and no one else."

"How do you know?" Kouga asked, sounding slightly torn. "That it'll be to Rin, I mean?"

Smirking, Sesshomaru replied, "I just know."

Kouga made a funny face and asked, "Sure that won't hurt your pride, being attached to a woman like that?"

"It'll boost my pride, if anything," Sesshomaru countered.

"And that's what it's all about," Kouga joked, recalling their previous conversation.

"That's what it's all about," the dog youkai repeated, sounding slightly content by his own confidence.

Kouga smiled to himself, knowing no words could truly justify this conversation, and he decided to let it die. Besides, there was nothing left to say. After a moment, there was a sound from inside and Kouga sat up partially, bouncing slightly on the trampoline. "We better go inside before they tear your house apart."

"Agreed," Sesshomaru grunted, accepting Kouga's hand up as he stood to his feet.

"I'm hungry," Kouga mentioned as he opened the screen door, wrinkling his nose.

"Kaede should be home from her daily errands any minute," Sesshomaru reminded him. Pausing slightly, the Fang leader commented, "I don't know what she'll think about having seven extra boys in her house."

Kouga grinned, giving his friend a gruff pat on the shoulder. "She never cared before, right?"

"On the outside," Sesshomaru agreed, allowing himself a small smile.

Inside, Inuyasha, Miroku, Ranbou, Hakkaku, Ginta, Bankotsu and Hiten were gathered around the island in the kitchen, sipping beers and discussing their plans for that night. "...but we gotta put on something so Shitora and Ayame don't smell us," Inuyasha concluded, obviously having just outlined the evening.

Raising an eyebrow, Kouga asked, "Why are we doing this again?"

There was a brief pause, during which everyone exchanged glances as though mulling over the question; did anyone actually know the answer? Inuyasha finally interrupted the silence. "Cause we're men and they're women," he said finally, as though the answer were obvious.

"Inuyasha, do you know what happens when a man and a woman get together?" Sesshomaru asked dryly as he retrieved another beer from the fridge, provoking laughter from the others.

"Better than you, probably," Inuyasha shot back, crossing his arms over his chest as his ears began twitching indignantly.

"So you would like to think," Sesshomaru replied mysteriously, smiling into his beer.

"You're so full of shit," Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes.

"No more so than you. So what's this brilliant plan of yours involve?" Sesshomaru asked casually, leaning back against the sink.

Grinning, his argument with the Fang leader seemingly forgotten, Inuyasha replied, "Well, let's just say it involves skills. Demon skills. Alright, guys, gather round, now it's time for the _real _plan, A thru Z. Listen close..."

"Okay...best ass."

The girls were sitting around in Rin's spacious red and black room, wearing tank tops and short boxers as they munched on oreos. For one long and grueling hour, they'd talked about nothing but gang business until someone finally got down to the meat of a true, pink, fluffy, down and dirty slumber party. Ever since then, the girls had been trying something a little different; comparing manly assets.

The five girls deliberated over the question for a moment, exchanging glances as they compiled their answers. Finally, after a few seconds of intense thought, Kagome broke the ice. "Well, if this is 'boyfriends don't matter' like we said, then I'll have to say Sesshomaru's ass if pretty impressive."

Rin made a sort of, "so be it" gesture, nodding to show that she agreed. The other girls nodded and exchanged glances, approving of this opinion as well, while Ayame added in, "I know it's probably biased, but Kouga's ass is nice too. Firm."

Shitora snapped her fingers, adding in, "Hiten."

The other girls grinned, saying varying forms of, "There we go! That's who it was I was thinking of..."

"Alright, what do we have so far Sango?" Rin asked with a resolute clap of her hands.

While simulatenously taking a sip of her beer, Sango glanced down at a sheet of paper and marked something down, replying, "Okay, here's what we have. Best hair to Sesshomaru, best pick up lines to Miroku, best eyes to Kouga and best attitude to Bankotsu...okay, and we just decided best ass to Hiten. Next up is best abs."

Everyone let out hisses, exchanging displeasured glanced; this was going to be a tough one. There was a brief silence, broken when Rin said, "Well, none of them have bad abs. In fact...all of them are really impressive."

"Agreed," Sango replied, shaking her head. "It's a tough decision."

Ayame leaned back against the large bed's headboard, staring up at the draping black canopy vaguely. "I might just have to say Inuyasha."

Grinning, Rin entered in, "Now those are some nice abs. I may be going out with his brother, but still...they're pretty hot."

"Pretty hot?" Sango echoed incredulously. "Rin, those things are amazing. Like, _incredible._"

"Okay, now I know it's sick since he's my brother and all, but, from a purely objective standpoint, his abs are a-okay," Shitora entered in with a small smile.

Kagome, meanwhile, was listening half heartedly to this exchange, trying to will herself away to a small and secluded island somewhere. For one of the first times in her life, Kagome Higurashi was feeling the pangs of jealousy. It was as though she wanted to rant and rave about how Inuyasha was her's...it was sort of messed up, like he was her property or something, but that's what she wanted. After spending so much time with Inuyasha, Kagome was becoming almost completely positive that she was falling for him. Even though she would never act on it, she could certainly think about it...and she did so...constantly.

"What do you think Kagome?" Rin asked suddenly.

Kagome jumped slightly at her name. "Um...me? About Inuyasha's abs? Um...they're nice. Nice quality..er...shape..." halfway through her strange description of Inuyasha's abdomen muscles, Kagome burned a rather brilliant red and looked away from the curious glanced of her friends.

"Uh, yeah, good shape," Shitora jumped in, hoping to save Kagome from her embarrassment. "Kinda...thick."

Sango cocked a wary eyebrow. "Uh, Shitora, he's your brother. That's...wrong."

"Hey, I'm still running off my earlier disclaimer about being objective," Shitora argued, crossing her arms pertly across her chest.

Rolling her large brown eyes, Sango took up the pen once more, scribbling down Inuyasha's name as winner of the ab competition. "O-okay, next catergory is best smile."

Rin, Ayame and Kagome exchanged rather competitive glances, as though silently putting up their men for consideration. The only ones who seemed completely uninterested by this question were Sango and Shitora, who just sighed and prepared for a rather long and fruitless battle between the three other girls.

"Sesshomaru, hands down," Rin said ferociously.

"But he never smiles!" Ayame protested, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Yeah, well, that makes his smiles extraordinary, unlike Kouga, whose like some kinda smiling freak!" Rin fired back.

"Inuyasha has a great smile too!" Kagome entered in, seeming just as determined as her friends.

"Please, all of Inuyasha's smiles are sarcastic," Rin replied disdainfully, crossing her arms rather moodily over her chest.

"You just have to know how to _make _him smile for real," Kagome argued, narrowing her glittering brown eyes.

"Well, Kouga's perfected the smiled cause he does it so much," Ayame pointed out.

The argument continued in this kind for quite a while before Rin glanced over and noticed both Sango and Shitora staring at the walls with uninterested glares. The Wildcat leader suddenly had a brilliant plan and exchanged glances with Ayame, jerking her head in the direction of their two friends; it was time for the next step of Operation Hookup. Winking broadly, Rin tried to convey her meaning to Ayame, who caught on a few seconds after Kagome noticed their strange signals. Deciding not to ask questions, Kagome sat back and decided to watch how this played out.

"Yeah, I change my answer," Rin said nonchalantly. "I think Ranbou has the best smile."

Shitora's ears perked up indefinitely at this comment and her head swiveled quickly on her neck, resembling a rather curious cat. "Wait, you think Wolf Boy has the best smile? But...he doesn't!"

"I think he does," Rin protested, feeling rather wicked inside. "Great teeth. It...um..." Suddenly, Rin found herself lost for words; she didn't know how to describe the perfect smile. Though she looked to Ayame for help, the redhead seemed just as clueless. Neither of them had thought this far ahead.

Kagome watched the goings on between Ayame and Rin, finally, realizing what they were trying to do; they were trying to trick Shitora into admitting her feelings for Ranbou. And, if her logic served her right, Kagome was willing to bet that they were going to move on to Sango and Miroku in just a moment; that would be an interesting development. In any case, Kagome knew that her friends would attempt a rag tag hookup between her and Inuyasha at some point. Perhaps if she helped them out now, she could weasel her way out of the embarassment.

"When Ranbou smiles, it reaches his eyes, you know?" Kagome jumped in, smiling at her friends.

While Shitora continued to look horrified, Ayame and Rin fixed the girl with surprised glares; was she actually _helping _them? Truth be told, Ranbou's smile was no better than anyone else's and they knew this. Why would Kagome jump in on his behalf?

"Everytime he smiles, a puppy dies," Shitora replied, white ears flat against her head with disdain. "I hate that guy."

"Aw, c'mon," Kagome chided, grinning evilly. "I bet deep down, you really like him and you just don't want to admit it."

Amber eyes sparkling with a dangerous sort of anger, Shitora replied stiffly, "That's bull shit. I really do _hate _him."

"Why?" Kagome asked suddenly, bringing the conversation to a rather abrupt halt. The group exchanged glances, staring incredulously at Kagome as though she'd asked a forbidden question. Rin was about to open her mouth and say something when Shitora jumped in, face alight with righteous fury.

"Why? WHY! Because he's a total bastard to me, or hadn't you noticed? Ever since we were kids, he's tried to make me look small and insignificant and stupid in front of my brothers because he's jealous that I can do everything he can! He was always jealous that I was a better trick rider, even though he was faster, because trick riding was what everyone thought was 'cool' or whatever. I always thought that there was some good in him somewhere but he always proves me wrong just when I start to think that again," Shitora all but screamed, standing rather abruptly halfway through her ranting speech.

When she finished, breath coming in short gasps, the other girls just regarded her with slightly surprised stares. After a moment, Kagome said, "I saw you talking to him today and you didn't look angry or anything. What about then?"

For a brief moment, Shitora had flashbacks of her encounter with Ranbou that day. _I have more faith in fate than that, Sukini. And you should too. _That would've been the perfect sentence if only he hadn't called her "Sukini." Gods, how she hated that nickname. It made her feel so tiny and pathetic; why couldn't he just call her Shitora like everyone else? It was like he gave her special attention or something.

"He was still being a bastard, but he was just quiet about it," Shitora grumbled, crossing her arms stiffly over her chest as she tried to decode her feelings.

There was a small and awkward silence between the group, during which everyone stared around the room as though lost for words. Finally, Rin gave a resolute clap and said, "Sango, next category?"

Jumping slightly out of her frozen state, Sango peered down at the paper. "Okay, next category is 'the nicest' guy."

Without missing a beat, Ayame said, "Miroku, hands down."

Sango lowered her eyebrows dangerously, growling, "Miroku? If by nice you mean 'stupid groping pervert,' then yeah."

Rin giggled a little, cocking her heat cutely to the side. "You know Sango, I've started thinking...do you _like _it when he touches you there?"

At this insinuation, Sango burned an absolutely brilliant crimson, pretty cheeks flushing with the very thought of enjoying a grab. "What! Like it! Rin, it's...well, it's VIOLATING!"

"Is that violating like 'disgusting' or in a 'nasty freak in bed' sort of way?" Kagome asked with a seemingly innocent smile, earning a snort of laughter from Ayame and Shitora.

"THE DISGUSTING WAY!" Sango screamed, steam practically flowing from her ears.

"Sure it is..." Shitora murmured, giving Sango a pacifying nod. Turning to the others, Shitora continued in a loud stage whisper, "Jeez, she's practically screaming 'in the closet pervert,' over there."

"Oh please!" Sango exclaimed irritatedly. "That's like saying you like it when Ranbou calls you Sukini! Or that Kagome likes it when Inuyasha calls her 'wench' or 'bitch'! None of us like those things!"

Ayame and Rin crossed their arms and sat back, watching the turmoil they'd created with rather proud eyes. Truth be told, they hadn't been trying to start such controversy, but once it appeared, controversy was a nice garnish on the fabulous table dish of society. By this point, Shitora was involved in a very heated argument with Sango, desputing the very idea that she might enjoy the name 'Sukini.' Kagome, however, didn't seem to mind the comment about Inuyasha's little pet names for her and preferred to watch the spat from the sidelines.

"You want to know what I really think about Miroku!" Sango screamed irately, normally passive brown eyes exploding with fireworks of displeasure. "He's a stupid, sycophantic freak with too many hormones and too few morals! He'd be a really great guy except, oh my god wait, he just _squeezed my ass_!"

"Okay, okay, okay," Rin interrupted, realizing that Sango was becoming a little to riled. "But really, think about Miroku as a person. Minus the whole groping thing, he's a really nice guy."

The others nodded, trying pacify Sango's dragon like temper. Trying to calm herself with deep, lamaze breaths, Sango tried to recall times when Miroku had been especially kind to her. Among them were times when he'd offered her a jacket in the cold, offered to drive her places when her car was in the shop, paid for her meals when out to dinner, been there for her during traumatic family troubles. Truly, when he wasn't violating her backside, Miroku was a good friend and a good man.

Sighing, Sango replied defeatedly, "Alright, Miroku's a nice guy. The nicest."

Rin smiled triumphantly. "Absolutely."

"Hey, is anyone else hungry?" Ayame asked suddenly, patting her hungrily growling stomach.

Kagome stood and stretched her limbs, saying, "I know I am. I'll show you to the kitchen."

Shitora leapt up, adjusting her pink tank top and agreeing, "Dude, I'm all for that."

"Rin," Sango mentioned confusedly, "It's kind of hot in here. Do you mind if I...strip down a little?"

Rin shrugged. "I don't care. There's no one home but us girls. Whose gonna see?"

Blushing a little, Sango smiled nervously and said, "I don't wanna be the only one doing it, I mean, I'm not a slut or something..."

"Psht," Shitora grunted out menially. Hooking her thumbs into her boxer short elastic, she pulled them off and stood there in only her tank top and black bikini underwear. Seeming unabashed, Shitora crossed her arms and said saucily, "Whatever, we're all girls."

Kagome giggled naughtily and dropped her own boxer shorts, turning around and shaking her butt in her friends' direction. Her underwear were white and had little Hello Kitty's jumping rope decorating the seat. "Haha, underwear party!" she exclaimed in a mocking cheerleader voice.

"Like, totally, Stephanie!" Rin joked along with her cousin, not sparing another thought before losing her own boxers. Rin's underwear were pure red lace, causing everyone to groan and laugh at her permiscuity.

Not to be out done, Ayame tossed her head and continued the cheerleader gag. "Oh yeah, like, OMG Jessica!" Soon, Ayame was proudly displaying her Black underwear, which had the words "love" and "kiss" written in white cursive script winding around them.

Seeing that she was in good company, Sango slowly took off her shorts, revealing a pair of green underwear with a yellow beach scene on the back. "O-mah-god, we're almost na-ked!" she called in her best cheerleader impression.

The girls all gave loud whoops of approval, hurrying out of the room while simultaneously talking in their ridiculous valley girl voices. Rin had given the in-house servants the night off, knowing that wild things like this underwear parade happened often during her slumber parties, and she was certainly glad. No matter what country your from or the language you speak, everyone's done something absolutely ridiculous when home alone. These girls just felt the need to leap around in their underwear. And it was good.

Kagome turned the corner into the kitchen, sliding across the floor in her best Tom Cruise impression before throwing the refrigerator door open. "OMG, ladies, we have chocolate!" she cried, flicking her wrist comically.

"I love chocolate!" Sango exclaimed, bumping Kagome out of the way, butt to butt, to commandeer control of the freezer and all its contents.

Upon seeing Sango use this technique, Shitora hurried in and said, "Oh no you don't!" before using her own small behind to push Sango out of her way.

"It's my house!" Rin protested, pulling the same move on Shitora.

Not one to be left out, Ayame jumped in with her own powerful bump and sent Rin flying into the growing pile of half naked girls. "But I'm hungry!"

Grabbing the large carton of chocolate ice cream, Ayame threw off the top and tried to grab for a spoon on the table. Before she could reach it, however, Sango stole it from her grasp and grabbed a spoon, hurrying around the other side of the kitchen island. The other girls, seeing that their precious chocolate could be taken, grabbed urgently for spoons before continuing in the chase.

Kagome let out a screech as Ayame pressed the cold carton to her bare thigh, causing Kagome to leap out of Ayame's path. Shitora then stole the ice cream, trying to make her way out of the room only to turn straight into a wall. This wall happened to contain the house radio system and Shitora's cheek smashed directly into the on switch, bringing music blaring out of the wall speakers.

Rin burst out into hysterical laughter as the Pussycat Dolls immortal "Buttons" began pumping through the house walls. Ayame rolled her eyes and stopped dead in her tracks, exclaiming indignantly, "What the hell kind of slut would make this song?"

"Haha!" Shitora cried triumphantly, grabbing the carton from her friend's grasp in one devious swoop.

Ayame, who had managed to get an actual bite of the ice cream, took her cold spoon, still sticky with chocolate residue, and pressed it to Shitora's cheek before the hanyou could move. Shitora let out a scream of surprised laughter and took a large bite of ice cream from her stolen treat before taking her spoon and waggling it threateningly before Rin's hungry face. Before Rin could move, she was marked with a similar chocolate streak on her face.

Kagome hurried over to get in on this action while Sango leaned into the refrigerator to grab the whipped cream. Soon enough, everyone was running around the kitchen screaming in all their hilarity as they tried to get control over the chocolate ice cream and/or the whipped cream, while simultaneously trying to avoid spoon swipes.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and the boys had crossed the two blocks between their house and Rin's, hoping to hide in the bushes of Rin's house and make strange noises. According to Inuyasha, this would absolutely terrify the girls, though Sesshomaru remained skeptical. As he had nothing else to do that night and would enjoy seeing Rin, despite the circumstances, he came along for the ride. He planned on making absolutely no stupid noises of any sort, however; it was far too degrading.

"Okay, we need someone to go scout out to see which part of the house the girls are in," Inuyasha instructed quietly, leading the boys into a bush in Rin's backyard. After years of practice, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru both knew how to scale a certain part of the fence on the back property to avoid the front gates.

"They're probably asleep, it's almost midnight," Bankotsu mentioned, glancing down at his watch.

"Yeah, he's right," Hiten agreed.

Several more of the boys nodded while Kouga just shook his head. "If you think those girls are asleep at midnight, you don't know them at all. I know Ayame doesn't even touch her sheets until three."

"And how would you know that litle brother?" Ranbou jibed, winking and elbowing Kouga ostentatiously in the ribs.

The other snickered, quieting down when Inuyasha uttered a harsh hiss. "Shut up! Bank, go check it out!"

Bankotsu heaved a great sigh, standing and flipping his braid over his shoulder rather dismissively. Flexing his muscular shoulder, which were tan against the stark white of his wifebeater, Bankotsu murmured, "Fine, alright."

With very little spy action or foreplay, Bankotsu strolled through the grass and came to the kitchen porch, glancing briefly back at his friends in the bushes. Concealing a smile, he tried to remember this image of the prideful gang members crouched down in a bush, preparing to scare a bunch of girls at a slumber party. Rolling his magnificent crimson eyes, Bankotsu put his back against the wall closet to the kitchen door and leaned over, peering through the window. From what he could see, the girls were in their underwear, running around the kitchen covered in whip cream and chocolate while simulatenously dancing to some sort of slutty song on the radio.

While Bankotsu was a very laid back guy, he also had a brotherly complex when it came to the girls. Deciding this was for the best, he hurried back to the bush and crouched down beside Inuyasha.

"Well?" the hanyou asked impatiently, white ears twitching violently back and forth.

"They're asleep," Bankotsu proclaimed, fooling everyone but Sesshomaru right down to the T.

"Aw, crap," Inuyasha muttered, smacking his palm with his closed fist before sitting back on his haunches, trying to devise another plan.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru leaned back slightly and caught Bankotsu's eye behind his brother's line of vision. Cocking an eyebrow, the dog demon gave Bankotsu a placating glare which brought a grin to the mind demon's face. Shaking his black head in a sort of "don't ask" gesture, Bankotsu turned his gaze back to the kitchen window, using his keen demon sight to hone in on the scene once more. It seemed, in a fit of insanity, the girls had started grinding to the music on the radio, laughing and eating the ice cream all the while.

Unable to bite back his laughter any longer, Bankotsu let loose a strangled snort and burst into a fit of giggles, falling back on his behind, consumed with hilarity. Ranbou, who was becoming suspicious by this point, followed Bankotsu's line of sight into the kitchen and let out a rather manly gasp.

"Holy crap, they're grinding in their underwear!"

The other boys perked up at this while Inuyasha whipped around the glare at Bankotsu. "You dumbass!"

Without so much as another word, the boys stood en masse and made a dash for the kitchen door, all save Sesshomaru who merely rolled his eyes and strolled leisurely behind them. When they were about half way to the door, an ominous rumbling sounded from deep beneath the ground and the boys stopped, exchanging glances before glancing down at the grass. Before anyone could say a word in warning, sprinkler heads popped up like eager gophers and began issuing thick streams of water all over the propsective party crashers, causing the boys to splutter and let loose wild curses.

"The door!" someone screamed, resurrecting their mad dash as everyone hurried to escape the sprinklers.

Hiten, who happened to be first to the door, grabbed the handle and tried to turn it, finding it locked. The others let loose strangled sounds of annoyance before Sesshomaru growled, "Out of my way," moving to the keypad and entering a four digit password; the Fang leader was not especially fond of becoming spontaneously wet.

As Hiten's hand was still holding the door knob in a firm open position, the door gave way and the boys fell through the door in a wet pile, smacking against the tile like soaked towels.

At the sound of the loud footsteps and the kitchen door being thrown open, the girls wrenched their gazes away from the chocolate ice cream to find a pile of very wet gang members collasped on their tile. Rin opened her mouth in a silent scream before screeching, "WHAT THE FUCK," voice heightening to roughly the octave of a dog whistle.

"Blame him," Sesshomaru announced annoyedly, pushing himself out from under several limbs while pointing to Inuyasha's disgruntled face; Operation Corona hadn't exactly gone according to plan.

"You assholes!" Shitora yelled angrily, stepping forward while wiping chocolate from her cheek.

Ranbou squinted as someone's foot dug into his thigh, yet he couldn't remove his gaze from Shitora Taisho, who was wearing her underwear, covered in chocolate and whipped cream. It was perhaps the hottest, cutest thing he'd ever seen and he would remember it for the rest of his days. Below him, Miroku was trying to remember every single God in his prayers as he thanked the heavens for granting him the lovely sight of a half naked chocolate smeared Sango, standing before him flushing a pretty pink in her anger.

Inuyasha, who hadn't quite gotten over his anger at being foiled, was surprised to find his gaze drifting to Kagome, whose body was the most appetizing thing in the entire kitchen. Perfectly proportioned, curved in all the right places, wearing next to nothing; this was his most far reaching fantasy concerning any girl and, as far as Kagome went, he'd always imagine a little chocolate. Officially, he could die happy.

"Somebody better explain and fast!" Sango muttered through gritted teeth, tapping her foot and looking absolutely furious.

The boys exchanged rather frightened glances before Sesshomaru decided to take this, lest someone else trip up their words and get the boys in even more trouble. While simultaneously ringing out his hair, the dog demon explained dully, "Inubaka thought it would be a good idea to scare you girls with strange noises tonight. He told Bankotsu to scout and, to his credit, he came back and said you girls were asleep even though he saw...this," Sesshomaru said, gesturing to the kitchen as a smile threatened to overcome his face. "Then Ranbou saw you, couldn't keep his mouth shut," with this Sesshomaru fixed the wolf with a pointed glare, "and the words 'grinding in their underwear' brought everyone running. Then the sprinklers went off and this is where we are. So if you could give us some towels, Koi, that would be much appreciated."

There was complete silence in the room for a moment as everyone looked at everyone else, wondering what the general thought on this episode would be. Laughter suddenly cut through the air as Ayame lost complete control of her body, limbs collapsing as she fell to the floor in all her insanity. Writhing with absolutely life consuming chuckles, she lost her breath as she thought about this entire episode. In a word, it was hilarious.

Everyone stared at her as she laughed like a maniac, wondering if this was really all that funny. Kouga finally saw the humor and starting laughing as well, bringing about many others as they examined their situation. Half of them weren't fully clothed while the other half were sopping wet. Not to mention the smears of chocolate and odd whipped cream drabbels around the room. This was absolutely classic.

"Oh my god, we're so retarded," Shitora gasped out, bringing about even more laughter as it echoed through the house.

"I'll get you some towels," Rin managed to get out through her giggles, stumbling from the room in search of the cupboard; this was certainly going to be a long night.

**I decided this stuff was just too good to end, so we're gonna make a second installment in the slumber party chapter. I just don't think it's finished yet and it was gettin' kinda long...hehe...teehee, huh...Thanks to all my reviewers, I love you so much!**

**KOLU**

The entire group of teenagers collapsed into hysterical laughter and


	12. Alone in Couples

**Thanks so much to everyone for their positive feedback! I've also had a brilliant suggestion from a reviewer who pretty much read my mind (GMTA) and it's given me a push in the right direction. It's much more definite than my pathetic ending was going to be so, Strawberry Tsuki, you're a personal hero of mine! Your idea is now one of the core plans of my story, but it won't be really coming around for about 20 chapters or so (sigh, me and my long stories...). Here we come with the second installment of the sleepover chapter. Sadly, I've already started planning a sequel to this story. I'm a total, fanfiction nerd...whose currently high off of AKon. **

"How did this happen again?" Hiten asked moodily as he used a towel to sponge extra water from his ear.

Snorting rather belligerently, Ranbou replied, "Somewhere between seeing the Wildcats naked and getting busted by sprinklers...you know what, I dunno."

The boys were currently gathered like shamefaced children in the kitchen, toweling themselves off and sipping cold beers. The girls had gone upstairs to give the men their privacy, as well as some time to stew over their recent defeat, yet the fact that several good looking, wet gang members were downstairs in the kitchen didn't escape the girls. Occassionally, some rather high pitched squealing could be heard over the running of a blow dryer in the corner, which many of the boys were forced to use due to their long and cumbersome locks.

Inuyasha squinted as he picked a piece of wet grass from his cheek. "Whose dumbass idea was this anyway?"

The hanyou soon found himself buried beneath a mountain of towels, all of which carried the pungent scent of wet animals. Spluttering, he countered back, "Hey! It was just a question!"

Before anyone could offer another word in Inuyasha's direction, the in-house speaker system crackled above the noise; the transmission was coming from upstairs. "Boys? Hello..." came a voice through the speaker.

After exchanging rather fascinated glances with his friends, Kouga, who was closest to the wall speaker, took a step forward and pressed the receive button. "Uh, yeah," he said over the line.

"Sweet! You figured out how to work it! We had a bet going that you couldn't figure it out. Anyway, okay, we just wanted to know if there was any ice cream left in that tub on the counter."

At this point, it was clear that the mysterious voice belonged to Kagome, who sounded as though she'd had a little too much ice cream for her tolerance level. Kouga turned slightly around and spotted the tub, which was dented and torn from the many hands it'd passed through that night. He opened the lid only to see sticky remains on the white bottom. He pushed the talk button and said, "Nope, sorry. S'all gone."

When Kagome pushed the receive button on the other end, several girly protests and whines clouded over the background. "Oh, thanks anyway Kouga. Hey, ouch!" Kagome's voice faded slightly as she turned away from the speaker. "I said not to start yet. I wanna get in a snap or two!" A clear tone rang through once more as Kagome turned back to the microphone. "Uh, yeah, sorry, bra snaping war. I gotta go, but when you guys are done drying off, just buzz us and we'll come on down to chat! Bye!"

Before Kouga could say another word, the speaker went dead and Kagome was gone. Exchanging glanced with his friends, he decided it was best not to ask what a "bra snapping war" entailed and he went back to toweling off his ponytail.

"Dude, they looked so hot before," Inuyasha said suddenly, grinning to show his demon fangs.

The boys all smiled as they recalled the sight of several half naked girls covered in whip cream and chocolate, prettily flushed in anger and surprise. "Yeah," the others murmured, sighing contentedly; maybe this whole ridiculous plot had been worth it after all.

"YEOW!"

The boys were thrown from their pretty day dreams by the sound of someone in immense pain, followed by the multiple bumps which occur only when something heavy falls down a flight stairs. Exchanging glances, the boy hurried out of the kitchen fearing one of the girls might've hurt themselves. As the gang members had since left their shoes at the door, they were able to slide across the marble floors in their sock feet, arriving in the lobby on the smooth floor. At the bottom of the stairs was a mess of white hair and small limbs, which were scantily clad and quivering with rage.

Shitora leapt to her feet and pointed an angry finger up the stairs. "You asshole! That was one hell of an underhanded bra strap, you whore!"

"Ha ha, can't hold your own little puppy?" Ayame taunted from the top of the stairs, sticking out her tongue and dancing around in ridiculous circles.

"Grrr, that's it, I'm gonna take you down!" Shitora screamed angrily, preparing to rocket up the stairs and defeat her "opponent."

Before she could move, however, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she found herself completely immobile; this was an obviously muscular person. A familiar scent entered her nostrils then and, screwing up her face, Shitora growled, "Ranbou, off!"

"Mmm, un-uh. If you kill my brother's girlfriend, do you know what kind of pissy mood that'll put him in?" Ranbou replied with a sort of mock thoughtfulness. "Besides, you'll probably break one of Rin's vases...vaases...I don't even know what these are."

"GET OFF ME!" came Shitora's outraged scream as she released her claws with a distinctive "chink."

Sesshomaru, however, knew the one solid way to calm Shitora's ridiculous temper tantrums. Rolling his eyes skyward, as though wondering why he had to sacrifice his dignity for such a cause, he called out, "Hey, Shitora. Jiszm."

There was a defeaning silence as the other gang members turned violently to face their leader, who had just said the strangest word to ever come out of his mouth. Sure, everyone knew what jiszm was, but why exactly had the great Sesshomaru said it? The boys were too busying puzzling over this matter to noticet the strange change in Shitora's expression. Without warning, the girl's tough facade broke and she collapsed limply in Ranbou arms, laughing hysterically into his chest like a drunk at a comedy club.

Ranbou looked helplessly up at his friends, not quite knowing what to do with a laughing girl in his arms. He could deal with her just fine when she was angry and struggling, but laughter was a completely different matter. Hiten just smirked and made a rather obscene pelvic motion. He then mouthed the words, "You know what to do..."

Bankotsu, Hakkaku and Ginta concealed their chuckles slightly, turning them into coughs and rather odd sneezes. Inuyasha, however, had witnessed this little display all too clearly. Lowering his eyebrows, he appeared beside Hiten with demon speed at his aid, arms crossed and face hard. "So Hiten. What did that mean?"

Despite Hiten's own demon heritage, Inuyasha had appeared so quickly he barely knew what to say. While he stumbled over his words, Hakkaku jumped in with an excuse on his friend's behalf. "We were dancing, right guys?"

Bankotsu and Ginta nodded quickly, not wanting to tempt Inuyasha's infamous wrath. In kind, they began justifying their new dance by repeating Hiten's obscene pelvic motions, jerking themselves around and looking like rather drunk frat boys. Inuyasha watched, unblinking, for a moment before letting loose a tired sigh and stalking away from his friends; some things were better left unsaid.

Back with Ranbou, he was fuming over Hiten's insinuations while simultaneously trying to calm Shitora down. "Yo, Sukini, cut it out!"

All of his protests aside, Ranbou had long since noticed what an inherintly beautiful smell Shitora gave off. It was pleasant and warm on one side, like a calm summer day, yet held an edge of danger, almost like the smell of sex or motorcycle exhaust. He certainly didn't want to distance himself from this scent, yet he couldn't very well remain there much longer; it would look, to say the least, suspicious.

With one last, "feh," of apathy, Ranbou loosened his grip around Shitora and prepared to let her fall, intending to walk away without a single glance back. Shitora, who was midway through her hilarity, practically wrapped around Ranbou's torso, suddenly felt the wooshing sensation of air around her, accompanied by that hated feeling of falling. It might seem strange, unlike common fears such as arachnaphobia or things like that, but Shitora had a deadly fear of falling. Not of heights, mind you, but of falling. Even short distances scared her speechless and this was no different.

She let loose a scream, face overcome with intense fear as she fell back towards the wooden steps. Ranbou was preparing to take his leave when his eye caught sight of Shitora's frightened face. Somehow, that vision really got to him and he found himself unable to follow the plan. Retightening his grip around the girl's slender waist, he avoided her eyes as he murmured, "Sorry, slipped." He couldn't bring himself to remember how he'd wanted to drop her.

Shitora ignored her own quickened breathing, trying to focus on something steady and untrembling. All she could find at the moment was Ranbou's arms, yet she didn't remain there for long. Breaking away from his grasp, adopting a familiar scowl, she crossed her arms and turned up her nose indignantly. "Damn wolf, dropping women all over the place."

"Me!" Ranbou shouted, pointing an angry finger at his own chest. "You're the one who was fallin' to fuckin' pieces over here!"

"Only cause Sesshomaru said the word!" Shitora protested, eyebrows lowering steadily.

"What? Jiszm?" Ranbou asked confusedly, watching as Shitora's resolve broke once more. Before they could finish their argument, Shitora was once more consumed with body racking guffaws. "Psht. Women," he muttered, walking away to join his friends.

"Ko!"

Kouga turned from his brief conversation with Miroku, smiling as Ayame came jogging down the stairs. "What are you guys gonna do tonight?"

Before Kouga could get as word in edgewise, Inuyasha replied stiffly, "Man things."

Ayame raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms delicately across her chest. "Oh? Man things. Hm. What kind of man things?"

Inuyasha's face became rather red as his golden eyes flared with irritation. "You know, man things!"

Rolling his ice blue eys plantively, Kouga stepped in front of his rash friend and addressed his girlfriend with a meaningful eye. "We weren't going to do anything important. Now that our stupid ass plan...or actually, Inuyasha's stupid ass plan, was a total failure, we were just gonna go, probably."

"I hate to break up the party, but that would probably be best. I don't want our nosy neighbors telling Dad I was having wild parties or something," Rin entered in as she came gliding down the stairs, smiling ruefully. "I may run around with a gang, but I'm still an eager-to-please-her-father Daddy's girl."

"Hey, the way I see it, he's good to you; why not be grateful?" Bankotsu agreed, giving Rin a reassuring smile. One aspect of gang society lay in appearances and Rin's was failing quickly; playing servant to your father's will didn't sit well with any sort of gang, especially not a rebellious, testosterone-driven teen one. Bankotsu was backing her simply because they were friends and, when one person's facade fell, that's what friends did.

By this time, the other girls had come jogging down the stairs, wearing boxers by this point, preparing to say farewell to the boys. Sesshomaru, in that habit of his, crept up behind Rin with nary a sound and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to kiss her pale neck. "Must I really go bond with these cretins, my lady?" he half joked, obviously alluding to his midnight rendevous with the other men.

Rin giggled, turning and intercepting Sesshomaru's lips with her own. "Just as I must bond with these prostitutes, my lord."

"Prostitutes? Where are the prostitutes!" came Ranbou's cry from half way across the room.

Sighing, Rin met eyes with Sesshomaru, seeming slightly defeated. "I could say dirty words to you right now and everyone would hear it because half the people in this room are demons. Is there no privacy anymore?"

Shrugging, Sesshomaru replied blandly, "Next time I see some extra privacy laying around, I'll grab it for you."

"Thanks very much, Sesshy, I appreciate the effort," Rin quipped dryly.

Sango and Miroku, who were standing slightly off to the side, could only just hear the banter spanning back and forth between their leaders. Sango crossed her arms, shaking her head with a small smile gracing her lips. "The way those two talk, it's like they're married or something."

Miroku smirked, placing his hands serenely in his pockets. "Somehow, I've got a feeling they might be married someday. If they can't make it, who can?"

"Seriously," Sango agreed, brown eyes sparkling with mischief as she glance around the room. "There's so many opportunities to be had, but none of these people will take it. Like right there, see?" She pointed discreetly to Inuyasha and Kagome, who were talking rather easily about something, standing a noticeable three feet apart.

Miroku chuckled. "You would think one of them had herpes, they way they talk. Hell, Inuyasha might, I don't know...but Kagome seems about as pure as pearls."

Narrowing her eyes in a thoughtful way, Sango made a rather disappointed sigh in the back of her throat. "She is. Or at least she seems that way. I can never tell."

"I'm right there with you," Miroku agreed, cocking his head to the side as he watched Kagome slap Inuyasha playfully on the shoulder. Those brown eyes of her were light and sparkling on the surface, but somewhere underneath they were scarred, just like the rest of the gang members' were. He'd seen enough of those eyes to know what they looked like. "I have a feeling that she's a lot less naive than she let's on."

"I know. But she could never really accept gang life, not the way it _really _is. You and I both know that," Sango said bitterly, refusing to meet Miroku's eyes as she stared down at her reflection in the marble floors. As much as the quiet observer might like to think the gangs were legitimate, they couldn't be more wrong. Just as the other gangs had their illegal vices, the Fangs had theirs. They were never discussed out in the open, these matters, but only behind closed doors where the select few could hear the details. Every rose has it's thorns, or so someone said; this analogy fit the Fangs like a glove.

Sighing, Miroku turned to look at Sango's bowed head, refusing to look away. "Sango...do you still have a problem with...that aspect?" he asked, words sporadic and misplaced.

"I always will Miroku," Sango replied sternly, shaking her head. "It's just not something I want to be a part in and I've said that before, just like Rin and Ayame have. We just can't condone things like that."

Hearing Sango oppose something so vehemently, especially something he was a part of, made Miroku rather sick inside. "Understand, I do it as an obligation to my fr-" he started to say, only to be cut off.

"You don't have to justify yourself to me, Miroku. I know. I know, Miroku," Sango said, whispering her last words as she finally glanced up to meet the boy's eyes. Despite his anxiety mere moments prior, Miroku suddenly felt his heart doing the Conga in his chest. The way Sango was looking at him right then was the way he wished she'd look at him every day. Like she realized that he wasn't such a bad person underneath his gang man exterior. Like she realized what he felt...for her.

"...and so that's how we ended up in our underwear, dancing around the kitchen with ice cream listening to dirty rap music," Kagome finished, giggling at the expression on Inuyasha's face.

"Oh, well that explains everything," he joked sarcastically, smirking in the girl's direction. "Nice underwear, by the way. Hello Kitty's always been a favorite of mine."

Kagome burst out laughing at the serious expression on Inuyasha's face, knowing he was joking yet finding it too much to take. To hear the words "Hello Kitty" come out of such a tough characters mouth was almost more than the girl could stand, but she had to admit: it was certainly amusing.

"No, seriously, I really think she empowers women. Don't you?" Inuyasha continued, adopting a comical expression of intellectual severity.

"Mmmf, yeah, most definitely," Kagome choked out, still giggling and leaning forward on Inuyasha to keep herself balanced.

Inuyasha gave a delicate sniff, saying, "You just don't appreciate my theories, Kagome." While he appeared to be light and humorous on the outside, Inuyasha was really a mess of emotions on the inside. Having Kagome so close to him, touching him, was driving him to absolute distraction. Her scent was curling up his nostrils, floating around his head, constricting his brain to a point where breathing and other normal bodily functions lost all meaning or importance. What he really loved were her eyes, the way the changed to fit her mood at every second, as they now sparkled with happiness. That was the best looking sight of all, in Inuyasha's opinion: happy Kagome.

"Hey, you wanna go for a walk?" Inuyasha asked suddenly, glancing down at Kagome, who was regaining her balance against his shoulder.

Still in the after throws of her chuckles, Kagome managed to say, "Sure. Let's get out of here."

Without a word to anyone, the couple slipped quietly out of the room and out the backdoor, onto the freshly watered grass. The night air smelled like water and flowers, the product of Rin's carefully manicured garden. It appeared immaculate at first glance, but in the back of the property was where the real gardens grew; this is where Kagome and Inuyasha sought.

"I love the way everyone is so close," Kagome said suddenly.They were walking at just the perfect pace for conversation and intimacy, an intimacy which existed between two people flirting with the disastrous destiny of true love. When Inuyasha said nothing, she continued. "Everyone in that room back there has a relationship with everyone else in that room. It doesn't matter who they are, they've talked and they know each other on a different level than everyone else. It's amazing."

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed, glancing up at the moon. "That's what happens when you spend every day of your stupid lives together. Every day of every week, every month, every year, I'm with them. And you think I'd get sick of em...but I never do."

Kagome chuckled, clasping her hands girlishly behind her back. "That's the other amazing part. It never gets boring or commonplace. It's like a huge family."

"Can't argue with that," Inuyasha snorted. Out of habit, he braced his arms behind his head and glanced restlessly up at the moon once more; his time of the month wasn't too far away, and he certainly didn't mean his period (god forbid.) No, his was slightly different, though he did tend to get rather moody. The others knew, of course, but families didn't talk about that sort of thing; they could tell when someone didn't _want_ to talk about it. "I've known most of em since we were seven, at least. Kouga and Ranbou since we were...god, what were we? Four? Three? Who the hell knows. It's hard not to be close after that."

"How long have you known Miroku?" Kagome asked.

Scrunching up his nose in thought, Inuyasha finally said, "Eh, almost twelve years I guess. Feels like I've known him the longest though. Best friends an everything, you know."

"Yeah, I do," Kagome agreed. "I've never really had a best friend, but I've watched a bunch of best friends grow old together. It's a...gift, I guess. Kind of a stupid word, but it is. You really appreciate him, don't you?"

Inuyasha grinned. "There's more to Miroku that most guys think. He ain't just some up-the-ass pervert. He's a good guy. He'll make someone a really great husband, I bet. Probably Sango." When Kagome started laughing he blushed slightly. "What? It could happen."

"No, no, I know, that's why I'm laughing. I've been thinking the same thing since I met them," Kagome giggled, meeting eyes with Inuyasha. Everytime the two locked gazes, amber and deep, chocolate brown, they had a serious problem letting go. It was like a comfortable strong-man grip, one which brought uneasiness when broken.

Realizing it was his turn in their immortal battle to finally break the glance, Inuyasha looked suddenly away under the pretense of observing a flower in the garden. "Rin spends a lot of time out here, doesn't she?"

Blinking, Kagome replied, "I've noticed she disappears mysteriously out here sometimes. I guess this is where she goes. Being a gang leader, I bet she has a lot on her mind. You know, now that I've come here and seen her interracting with everyone, I can't imagine my cousin as anyone else but the Wildcat's ho leader. Funny, huh?"

The girl chuckled at the irony; this was a girl she'd played naked in kiddie pools with and now she was running around barely clad in leather and lace. Where was the dignity in that? But yet this question almost answered itself; Rin's job demanded that she be dignified and, somehow, despite her careless attitude and flagrant disregard for any rules, her dignity remained intact. This was one thing Kagome admired; Rin was amazing without even trying.

"If she's a ho, so are you."

At the comment, Kagome immediately stopped walking and turned to face Inuyasha, who stopped walking as well. His face was a picture of amusement and seriousness as he regarded the girl with a cocky one-fanged smirk. "Rin runs around without clothes on cussing, smoking and making people notice her. The only difference between you is the fact that you don't need to make people notice you; they do it on their own. Am I right?"

After a brief silence, Kagome cocked an identical half smile. "Yeah, I'm a ho. But the way I hear it, you eat out more than I do. And I'm not talking about Macdonalds."

Inuyasha just smirked and glanced up at the moon. "I'm like the town bicycle. But it's an expensive toll to ride the Inuyasha."

Kagome burst out laughing and gave the boy a playful whack in the chest. "You asshole! Why am I friend with you?"

Shaking his head slightly, Inuyasha watched the girl as she was thoroughly consumed with laughter, still outraged over Inuyasha's ridiculous comment. Hands shoved calmly in his pockets, the hanyou couldn't help but wish fervently for a cigarette, yet he couldn't bring himself to take his eyes away from her, even for a second. She was so beautiful, it was hard to stand when he looked at her. _You're right Kagome...I don't know why you lower yourself to be friends with a guy like me...when you're perfect._

Shitora had been standing patiently with Kouga, Ayame, Rin and Sesshomaru, adding in her opinion on the conversation every once and a while, though she felt sorely misplaced. Her brother's arm was placed firmly around Rin's waist and, on their left, Kouga and Ayame were holding hands, massaging each others fingers every moment or so. Finally, the hanyou girl felt too alone to even breathe anymore; she had to get out.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," she said rather quietly, leaving the group without anyone taking notice.

She hated situations like that, where she felt targeted and alone, yet forgotten and unnoticed at the same time. It was the same on those days at the mall where everyone seemed to be paired off but you, hugging, kissing, being in love. Shitora really wanted a part of that, but she didn't want to waste her time on a worthless relationship, one without value or merit. She wanted something real and, at this age, it was hard to find. This didn't mean her friends and family had to rub _it _in her face, however. "It" was the word Shitora used in her mind for finding true love. "It" was the perfect relationship. And knowing that the people closest to her had already found "it" really hurt her. Not that she would ever say it out loud.

Walking slowly into the recently cleaned kitchen, consumed by her thoughts, Shitora wasn't even looking up or catching scents on the air when she ran into someone's broad back. "Woops, sorry."

Ranbou turned around, beer in hand and eyebrow cocked. "Sukini? You okay? You look kinda high."

Snorting and almost finding herself too tired to care or argue, the girl replied, "Nope, not tonight. Just...thinkin. And getting tired of the relentless PDA in that room."

Despite the fact that Shitora was his mortal enemy, Ranbou couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I hear ya. Why do ya think I left?"

"Um...to get a beer?" Shitora guessed, half joking as she smiled in the wolf's direction.

The boy's ice blue eyes gave a brief flash as he thought about just how wrong she was. Truth be told, he and Shitora were getting that same lonely vibe as they stood there, without boyfriends or girlfriends, feeling out of place and alone. "Yeah. To get a beer and save myself the agony of watching my brother dry hump his girlfriend."

"My thoughts exactly," came Shitora's muffled voice as she retrieved a beer from the refrigerator. Slamming the door shut, the girl popped the can top with a loud hiss and raised the can to the sky. "Here's to escaping unecessary dry humping, witnessed by unfortunate family members."

"Here, here," Ranbou agreed, clanking cans with the girl before the each took a swig.

Smacking her lips wildly, Shitora hopped backwards onto the counter top, swinging her feet gently against the cabinets below. "Why does everyone always pair off like this?"

Ranbou shrugged, walking over and leaning against the counter beside her. "Because they wanna feel like somebody gives a shit, so they grab someone who does and stick with em."

"That's sick shit," Shitora said dully, glaring down at her beer can as though it held the answer to her problems. "Why do they need someone like that anyway? What does it really matter? We're all friends, right? We all care, right? Right!" As she spoke, her tone became slightly more desperate and, soon, she was staring at Ranbou with wide amber eyes, haunted by these questions for which she had no answers.

Sighing, the wolf shook his head and took a long drink from his beer. Finally, he said, "You and I get that cause we ain't runnin around lookin' for love. They're all love sick puppies, if you ask me. Beggin' for someone's romantic chump change...it's pathetic. They're just more needy than us."

Calming herself, Shitora looked away, embarrassed by her own miniature emotion explosion. "Yeah right. Needy. They are, aren't they? I mean, the funny thing is that they don't have to be making out to be a couple, you know? Yash and Kagome...that's messed up. Yash needs her more than she needs him."

"But that's always the way it is," Ranbou said, intercepting the idea with a gentle swing of his beer can. "One of em always likes the other one more. You can always tell which is which, too."

"Yeah," Shitora agreed, shaking her head. "And the lovesick one always looks like an idiot."

"Mhmm," Ranbou agreed, blue eyes half hooded as he stared at an indeterminable point across the room. There was no telling what he was thinking at that moment, but Shitora knew better than to ask. She glanced over, examining his face honestly for the first time in a while; he'd become quite handsome since their youth. His jaw was more refined than Kouga's, giving him a decidedly male look with his tan skin and firm nose. The way his dark hair fell in his face, just so, made him seem slightly mysterious, which Shitora reckoned he was, to a certain extent. Gangs in and of themselves were mysterious, and their members were the same.

"But you were always dating when we were younger," Shitora pointed out suddenly, furrowing her brow. "Do you date anymore?"

Ranbou snorted, turning to look at her. The way she was looking at him now, pale little face surrounded by her snow white hair, he had to admit she was almost angelic. She was like...a little frosted cake, if he could put a word to it. Delicate, sweet, perfectly crafted, painted with pastels and tender loving care. Shaking his head clear of such ridiculous thoughts, he said, "Eh, I still date sometimes. Every time I do I think, 'she's better than the last one, it won't be such a pain in my ass,' and every time I'm wrong. Stupid how I do it to myself, huh?"

Smiling, Shitora took another sip of her slowly disappearing beer. "Naw, I understand I guess. I've never really...dated. I've had flings, but never dated seriously. I mean, everyone dates just to make out and have sex, right?"

Ranbou blinked. "You mean...you're, like, not a vir-...I mean, not...have you had...Sukini?" He was stumbling over his words, something which made Shitora laugh if nothing else.

"I think you're trying to ask if I'm still a virgin. In answer to your question, I reply with another question: why do you care?" Shitora chuckled, eyes flashing with an evil sort of playfulness.

Under the girl's scrutiny, Ranbou stuttered out a few stupid sounds before lowering his eyebrows in frustration. "I don't care, Sukini, I just like to keep the company of people who're worth my frickin' time. And if you were just some ho, well..."

While Ranbou expected the girl to get pointedly angry and storm out of the room, a situation which he could've easily handled, she only smirked. "No need to worry, I'm not half the slut Kikyo was...or is. I don't guess being a pysch makes you any less of a slut. But no, I have my slutty moments, just not often."

"You actin' slutty would be like the apocalypse," Ranbou murmured, returning his lazy gaze to the other side of the room as he took a drink.

"Who, me? Why?" Shitora asked, puzzled. She dressed like a slut, didn't she? As much as the other girls, anyway.

The wolf shrugged menially. "Ever since we were kids, you don't pull that coy shit that all the other girls do. Rin does it, Kagome knows how, Sango'll do it sometimes, hell, even Aya does it. Trying to control guys with their...'feminine wiles' or whatever. But you...you've never done that. Cause you're different from all of them, you know? Can't you tell?"

Shitora let out a small laugh. "I know, trust me. Every time we're flipping through channels and they're like, 'romance, awesome' I'm like, 'wrestling, awesome.' I've gotten lots of clues like that."

Ranbou smirked, one of his fangs poking out beneath his lip. "I think most of the people on this planet would agree that wrestling beats romance.

Pushing herself off the counter, Shitora jerked her head back and downed the rest of her beer, crumpling it into a small frisbee in her bare hands. "And most of the people would be men. See ya," she said with a grin, throwing the can deftly into the trash can.

Ranbou followed the swaying motion of her hips out the door, once more enjoying the sight of that perfect, rocking ass. Before she left completely, however, she poked her head back inside and said, "P.S, I'm a virgin and P.P.S, stop staring at my ass."

With that she left for good, scent the only physical trait that remained inside the room. Ranbou eventually sighed, staring down dejectedly at his beer while simultaneously feeling the whole which her presence left in the empty kitchen. Rising decidedly from the counter, he muttered, "I need another beer."

**Hey again, guys, sorry this one was a long time coming. I've been struggling through work outs and trying to balance out summer life. I got a job at Hot Topic, though, so my season's looking up. Anybody else out there got a job? Tell me in the reviews: WHAT IS YOUR JOB?**

**KOLU**


	13. Demons, New and Old

**I'm back again! I know this always happens, where I spit out a few chapters at a time and disappear like a hermit for a few weeks, but my inspiration comes in spurts and I apologize. But here we go with another chapter!**

Kagome leaned back against the cool leather of Rin's passenger seat, watching the dark world outside pass her by. The street lights cast strange shadows on her face as they came and went in a distinct, precise pattern; reaching up to touch her cheek, Kagome recoiled as that unfamiliar texture of drying blood stuck to her fingertips. How the hell had she gotten herself in this mess again?

Glancing over at Rin, who was tight lipped, gripping the steering wheel with eerily white knuckles, Kagome asked, "What happened back there? Does it happen...a lot to him?"

Rin snorted, flipping on her blinker in an irritated way. "Hardly. I've only seen him go demon once before and that was when Ryokoytsusei threatened his sister back when we were kids in middle school. He's never looked quite that angry."

Kagome felt guilt wash over her like a tepid stream of bath water. "I feel awful that I caused him to turn into...that."

"Don't be stupid," Rin said softly, brown eyes reflecting a certain level of compassion which she rarely showed. "It's his fault he went crazy, not yours. Besides, when we get back to the warehouse, he's going to get the heat, not you."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kagome all but whispered, leaning her forehead against the cool glass of the car window, careful not to get any blood on the upholstery. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek, reflecting like a descending diamond in the glass. She could still remember the look on his face even now...

**Thirty Minutes Ago**

"You did great, Ko!"

Ayame hurried up to Kouga's motorcycle as he pulled back to the starting line, surrounded by cheering, screaming gang members. The normal night life thrum vibrated through the concrete as the gangs met for their weekly race, exchanging words of good and bad caliber with friends and enemies alike. The leaders stood back, carefully overseeing the attitudes and demeanors of the gangs; most of them were determined to keep the gangs in line and keep these dealings civil. After the complications involving the last race, the gang leaders weren't taking anymore attitude from their subordinates.

Kouga had just successfully won a motorcycle race against an aspiring core member of the Dragons and, grinning full fanged, he took Ayame by the waist and swung her around. "And you're my prize," he declared, lowering her down to earth before stealing a kiss from her lips.

Grinning, Kagome leaned back against Miroku's car where she was taking a smoke and Sango was drinking a beer. "They're so cute," Kagome said, smoke spilling in a seductive trail from her lips.

"Yeah," Sango muttered, taking another drink from her beer. "They've been after each other since we were little kids; I was glad when they finally gave it up and got together."

After a brief silence, Sango furrowed her brow, craning her neck to look around the crowd. "Hey, have you seen Jakotsu? I need to talk to him about his pick up truck."

"I think he was with Bankotsu and Hiten over near the fence," Kagome replied, gesturing with her cigarette in the correct direction.

Sango thanked her before pushing off of the car, walking towards the specified area to talk to the boy about his dismal car. Kagome remained there for a moment, watching people as they walked past, until her cigarette was nothing but ashes and she let it fall to the ground, crushing the flame beneath her boot. The girl decided to retrieve a mint from her purse, which happened to be in Rin's car, and she started making her way through the crowd, pushing through bodies and inhaling the strong scent of leather. She, herself, was wearing black leather pants and a black tube top, along with a pair of leather stiletto boots. The girl had to admit that wearing promiscuous clothes made her feel slightly dangerous, in a certain delicious way, and she smiled to herself as she neared the door of Rin's car.

Kagome was carrying Rin's car keys in her bra and, reaching discreetly down her shirt, Kagome retrieved the keys and popped the lock, opening the door to grab her purse. She couldn't find it at first and, furrowing her brow, the girl leaned down further. Reaching beneath the seat, Kagome wondered vaguely if she'd pushed it beneath there with her feet. While she found no purse, Kagome felt her fingertips brush against cold metal and her heart stopped. After a brief moment, during which Kagome didn't move a hair's breadth, she continued moving her hand until she closed around a cold metal object. She only withdrew her hand partially from underneath the seat, staring at the object in her grasp; her hand was closed around the barrel of a gun.

The girl took in a sharp breath and pushed the gun back beneath the seat, wondering why on earth Rin carried a gun. Kagome soon realized, however, once she was back in her right mind, that being a big breasted gang leader must have its dangers. For all Kagome knew, Sesshomaru insisted that his girlfriend carry around a weapon. Somehow, the thought of that gun made Kagome smile; she knew all about guns. Her stepfather was a high ranking police officer in Kyoto and, in kind, he'd taught his step daughter how to use the weapon on special police force training ground. She could hit marks relatively well for someone her age, but only because she practiced with him constantly. Something about handling dangerous weapons pleased her, though she dare not examine that fact further. She might learn something frightening about herself.

Kagome eventually found her purse, carelessly tossed in the back, and she smiled to herself, unzipping it and popping a mint in her mouth. Satisfied with her clean, fresh feeling mouth, the girl closed the car door and locked it, replacing the keys down her shirt where they belonged. She was making her way back towards Miroku's car when she accidentally bumped into a hard shoulder.

"Sorry," she mumbled, preparing to be on her way, but an iron hard grip enclosed around her wrist.

"Hey, what was that?" the guy asked, whirling Kagome around to face him.

The boy was tall, well built, but grizzly in demeanor and appearance. He had shaggy black hair in an unkempt mess atop his head, matching the scruffy stubble beard clouding his jaw. His eyes had a certain emptiness to them which didn't sit well with Kagome and she lowered her eyebrows. "Let go of me!" she yelled, struggling valiantly against his hold.

But this guy didn't seem to want to let her go. "Hey, I haven't seen you around here before," he said, almost curiously to himself. Kagome was, dare she say, frightened by the way he could hold her wrist so tightly and looked completely calm across his face. _He's strong, _she thought desperately, _I should call for help; I can't take him. Unless..._

"Hey buddy," she screamed, right in his ear. The boy practically leapt back, though he never released her wrist, and he snarled in her direction, revealing a pair of fangs.

"What's the idea girly, trying to blow out my brains!" he growled angrily, all traces of boyish curiosity gone from his expression.

"Let go of me!" Kagome shrieked in response, kicking up her leg to catch him in the forbidden area. He twisted slightly, narrowly avoiding her attempted blow, and Kagome got a look at the symbol on the back of his jacket; a dragon. The way Kagome saw things, the Dragons caused more trouble that the rest of the gangs combined.

"Ha, nice try girly," the boy said with a rancid grin, leaning in so close to her face that Kagome could smell the mix of cigarettes and beer on his breath.

"Hey Kagai," came a voice from behind the Dragon, drawing his attention momentarily away from Kagome. A few more faceless Dragons gathered around this man, Kagai, and his new found plaything, a very red faced Kagome.

"Whose the girl?" asked one of the Dragons calmly, pale eyes drawing out a certain fear in Kagome; his eyes were white. She could see a ring of black where the pupils should've been, but then inside them was nothingness.

"I dunno," Kagai replied, turning his shaggy head back to observe Kagome once more.

Remembering that she was struggling, trying to get away from the attacker, Kagome began to thrash inside his grip, her long hair whipping Kagai in the face. "Let me GO!" she screamed again, tugging against his vice grip.

The other Dragons chuckled while a green haired snake demon hissed out, "She'sss fiesssty."

"Just the way he likes em, right Kagai?"

They laughed once more, sending shivers down Kagome's spine; this was looking worse by the minute. "If you don't let go, I'm gonna start screaming my head off!" Kagome threatened, staring defiantly up at her captor.

Kagai looked anything but impressed and only grinned, reaching up a cut-off gloved hand to trace a thin trail down her cheek. "What if I don't wanna let go, girly?"

Before he could say another foul word, Kagome leaned forward in one swift movement and sunk her teeth into his wrist, causing Kagai to let out a roar of pain and anger. With one quick swipe, he let go of Kagome's wrist and used a single clawed hand to tear three jagged cuts into Kagome's left cheek. Kagome let out a scream of surprise and fell to the ground, laying there for a split second before she tried to get to her feet and run. Kagai, however, was far from finished and aimed a swift kick at her gut, earning gasps from even the other Dragons.

"Hey, Kagai, cut it out man, let's go," said one of them, trying to lure his friend away.

"Shut up!" Kagai roared, obviously a man who treasured his pride.

Kagome coughed bitterly as bile rose in her throat, adding to the intense pain in her gut and on her face. Never before had she felt so much pain, seeing as though she'd had a peaceful childhood with no broken bones or fights. As Kagai moved back in to take another hit, Kagome felt, for the first time, what complete and total uselessness feels like. She was so scared not even her fingers would respond to her terrified nerves; she couldn't even move. Just before the third hit came, Kagome closed her eyes, begging for someone to save her from this agony...if only she could scream.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

A hope sparked inside of Kagome as this yell tore through the throat of a familiar, gruff half demon. Kagome opened her eyes a crack, blinking as she witnessed Inuyasha standing there looking absolutely furious. He turned towards her, in one moment and she choked out, "Inuyasha," before the blood in her mouth caused her to began coughing and spitting up the crimson liquid on the pavement.

Inuyasha Taisho, as long as he'd lived, had never felt such an intense, blinding anger. For a single, solitary second he felt nothing, not the breeze, not the vibrations through the ground, nothing. In a flash, a red hot creature rose up in his gut and Inuyasha's vision bled a startling crimson, streaking over his eyes like a falling rain. A howl of rage and anger cut through his mouth and erupted on the air, causing everyone within the immediate area to turn and stare, yet Inuyasha couldn't see them. All he could see was Kagai, standing there with a mightily confused expression across his grungy features.

_Mate hurt, kill. _Inuyasha's fangs began to elongate and his claws clinked against each other as his hand gave a twitch. _Mate hurt, kill. _Inuyasha began walking towards Kagai, demonic aura rising off him in wisps of black and red. Even the spectating humans could tell there was something distinctly inhuman about this all. _Mate hurt, kill. _Raising his right hand, Inuyasha suddenly took off faster than any eye could follow, even Kagai's. Before the Dragon knew it, Inuyasha was upon him, slashing and clawing while screaming threats and angry words all the while. _Mate hurt, must kill. _

The shadows of the terrifying scene before her, played across Kagome's face, reflecting in her glassy eyes; why did Inuyasha look this way? Blinking, Kagome drank in the expression on his face; mouth contorted in a gnarled scowl, eyes wide and crimson, claws dripping with Kagai's blood as the hapless Dragon screamed in terror. Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to take Kagai's life and she knew it; something about this was dangerous and, normally, Kagome would've like that. But for some reason, she didn't. She remembered Inuyasha's face a few nights ago in the garden, talking about life and relationships, smiling a soft smile reserved only for her. This wasn't that Inuyasha. This wasn't _her _Inuyasha.

As Kagai's friends had already run away from the scene of the crime, Kagai was in effect left to fend for himself. He could only scream and try to squirm away as Inuyasha unleashed quick claws upon him, but he couldn't seem to get away. No one in the immediate audience had the strength nor the bravery to take Inuyasha down, so they could only watch in horror as the hanyou continued this mindless slaughter.

Sesshomaru was discussing Kouga's recent win with his best friend and several of the others when he noticed a spike in demonic aura and a crowd beginning to gather around an obviously interesting sight. Narrowing his eyes, Sesshomaru stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence and watched the scene before him critically. The others followed his gaze, noticing the odd sight, and without a word they all began running towards the crowd. Rin hurried alongside her boyfriend, pushing her way through the bodies, screaming, "Hey, out of our way, leaders coming through!"

Ranbou and Shitora attacked the crowd from a different direction, as did Kouga and Ayame, then Sango and Miroku. Eventually, Sesshomaru had plowed his way bodily through the crowd and stared, wide eyed, as his baby brother continued destroying the decimated body of a Dragon in the center of this commotion. Sesshomaru quickly took in the red eyes, elongated fangs, and muttered a curse.

"Inuyasha!" he yelled, charging into the circle, only to find himself unnoticed by his brother, who was focused on the kill.

Ranbou, Miroku and Kouga finally came stumbling into the circle, hurrying to restrain Inuyasha at their friend's side. Miroku called out, "Inuyasha, stop it, calm down!" Yet he was ignored.

Snorting, Ranbou stepped boldly forward, putting a daring hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Yash, cut it o-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Ranbou found himself flying backwards, gut heaving from the blow he'd just received. Blood shot out his mouth as the wolf landed on the pavement, gasping for air and wincing against the pain in his ribcage. Obviously, Inuyasha wasn't a half demon at the moment; that was a demon's blow if Ranbou had ever received one.

"Don't touch him!" Sesshomaru yelled to the others, adrenaline rushing through his veins; for once, he didn't know how to combat his own brother. With the anger and energy he was sending out at the moment, Sesshomaru reckoned he was stronger than most of the full blooded demons out here. Something in this transformation was different, however; he was in protective attack mode. This was when Sesshomaru noticed Kagome, on the ground with blood spilling down her face, watching the scene with horrified eyes. _Dammit Inuyasha, _the dog demon thought bitterly, _you've forgotten yourself all for her sake, haven't you?_

Kagome watched the faces of the boys as they tried to decide what to do and, after watching Inuyasha dispose of Ranbou so easily, Kagome knew they couldn't do anything to help the hanyou. Swallowing deeply, Kagome thought _I caused this to happen; I have to fix it. _

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, trying to get his attention. "Stop it, this isn't like you!"

The hanyou didn't respond but only continued tearing away at the since unconscious Kagai. Blinking back tears, Kagome wiped an arm across her eyes and stood shakily to her feet, spitting out the blood that was still dripping into her mouth. "Inuyasha, please!" she begged, taking a tentative step forward.

At the sight of her bloodied cousin hurrying forward to greet a madman, Rin started to rush forward and stop her, only to find Sesshomaru's strong arm blocking her way.

"No, Rin, watch," he said quietly, never taking his eyes away from Kagome as she approached Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha..."Kagome all but whispered as she observed that face, a face she didn't recognize at all. Without another thought, Kagome threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around the feral demon's neck. "Inuyasha," she murmured, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Inuyasha, inside his crimson, blood thirsty haze, recognized the familiar scent of Kagome as she wrapped her arms around his neck, halting the motion of his methodically swinging claws; he dare not hit her. Blinking, Inuyasha detected the salty scent of tears and he furrowed his brow. Kagome was...crying? Kagome was so strong, it was hard to imagine her crying, but the proof was all there. Was he the source of those tears? With these thoughts running through his mind, the crimson began to recede and Inuyasha found himself suddenly returning to full consciousness. The smell of blood clouded his nostrils and he blinked, finally returning Kagome's embrace with his strong arms.

"Kagome," he murmured, returned to normal at long last.

Kagome leaned back quickly at the sound of his voice, staring him in the eyes with her terrified brown ones. So stark was her fear that Inuyasha felt a stab of guilt rip through his heart; he'd put that there. "Inuyasha...Inuyasha?" she said breathlessly, as though hesitant to believe it was him.

Before the two could continue this reunion however, Ryokoytsusei burst into the circle, eyes aflame as he observed the bloody mess of Kagai on the floor. "What the hell is going on here?" he demanded, staring angrily at Inuyasha with his lifeless, killer's eyes.

Sesshomaru hurried forward, grabbing Inuyasha and Kagome before jerking them backwards into the crowd. "Keep your men under control, dragon," Sesshomaru bit out fiercely before pushing the couple through the array, calling for the others to follow him. The other Wildcat and Fang core members hurried after their leader without another thought, running for their cars as they tacitly declared their race finished for the night.

Shitora leaned down beside the fallen Ranbou, who could barely move due to the injuries inflicted upon him by Inuyasha's demon counterpart. The girl hurriedly slipped an arm under his arms, dragging him upwards with her half demon strength. Ranbou chuckled dryly, coughing up droplets of blood. "Heh, that bastard got me good."

The girl shook her head, helping Ranbou towards his car at a slow, limping speed. This was going to be a long night.

While Kagome and Inuyasha had been clinging tightly to one another during their struggle through the crowd, Sesshomaru and Rin ripped them apart to take them back to the warehouse, causing Kagome to whimper at the loss of warmth. Inuyasha growled at his brother but Sesshomaru's furious simmering gaze set him silent. "Shut up and get in," the elder brother whispered vehemently, opening up the car door with a surprisingly calm ferocity. Inuyasha didn't dare argue.

"C'mon, Kagome," Rin urged, helping her friend into her convertible before jumping in the driver's seat, speeding away from the race area. This would certainly be a night to go down in history.

**Present Time**

"Kagome? We're here."

Blinking away the memories as best she could, Kagome used one already bloodied hand to wipe away the tear, opening the door and stepping out into the empty night. The way everything was so calm in the warehouse district, as though wild and dangerous things weren't happening in the rest of the world, made Kagome angry. The very gravel beneath her feet made Kagome sick as she walked shakily across it, feeling faint and ill as she recalled the recently passed events.

Kagome followed Rin's silhouette towards the door, maneuvering her way around the hot-hooded cars of her recently arrived friends. As soon as Kagome stepped inside the door, she was struck dizzy by the scene inside. At the back of the room, Sesshomaru had his hand enclosed around Inuyasha's throat, holding his younger brother up against the wall with a cold stare in his eye.

Rin gasped, running towards the back of the room to stop her boyfriend, while Kagome groaned and placed one hand on her head; she didn't feel up to dealing with all of this. At the end of her dreams, Kagome always curled up on the floor and woke up in her bed, in the exact same position. If only she could do that now, lay down on the floor and wake up in her bed, away from all this madness.

"You've never been one to control yourself, but for one god damned minute, Inuyasha, did you even think about the consequences of what you were doing!" Sesshomaru spat out, words quiet but deadly as they cut through the air.

The others were standing in a frozen circle around the brothers, not daring to step between a family fight. Rin hurried up to Sesshomaru, trying to persuade him to release Inuyasha, whose eyes were beginning to sparkle with the loss of air.

"Sesshomaru, please, let him go, we can do this another way," she said desperately, addressing her boyfriend with a pleading air about her.

Without turning to face her, Sesshomaru bit out, "Inuyasha needs to learn that he can't let his emotions run away with a simple human woman; it only leads to trouble."

There was a deadening silence inside the warehouse as Rin tried to process what Sesshomaru had just said and, finally, she let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, is that so? I'm sorry to have troubled you, _my lord._"

And with this, Rin turned on her heels and began walking quickly out of the warehouse, tears pricking at her eyes. Is that really what Sesshomaru thought about human women, what he thought about relationships? Was she that repulsive to him? Blinking away such useless emotions, she brushed past her cousin, not even seeing her there by the door and climbed into her car, starting the engine and squealing away. Kagome watched her cousin go, knowing she could always sleep somewhere else, and continually holding her head; everything she had come to know and love over these past few weeks was turning to dust as she watched and there was nothing she could do.

Stumbling forward, Kagome tried to regain her balance as she walked unsteadily towards the others, but her head was throbbing from the blow she'd received. Her footsteps alerted Kouga's sensitive demon ears and he blinked, turning towards her before gasping. "Kagome..." he murmured, hurrying forward to help her. Ayame and Sango, too, rushed forward steadying the girl on her feet as she swayed dangerously to and fro.

Kouga hefted the girl easily into his arms and hurried back to the couch area, laying her down on one of the couches as Ayame hurried to wet a wash cloth and Sango grabbed for the first aid kit. Sesshomaru, giving Inuyasha one last threatening jerk, threw his brother dismissively to the ground and stared down at his own hands. Rin had just run away from him, a monster who thought nothing more of humans that he did of animals. Hadn't he said something like that, about human women causing trouble? He hadn't meant it the way it sounded. But still, that didn't change the aching in his gut as he realized what the loss of Rin really meant to him. Even as he looked around the warehouse, so soon after her hurried departing, everything seemed to have lost it's color. The world no longer held joy, even as his eyes fell over cars and people he loved. Where was his happiness?

Gone.

With her.

"Sesshomaru...hello, Sesshomaru!" Miroku called, trying to get his friend's attention. "Shitora just called and said that she's on her way with Ranbou and we need a doctor. SHOMO!"

Blinking, as though returning from a momentary memory lapse, Sesshomaru focused in on Miroku and remembered his duties to his gang. "A doctor...right..." he murmured, wondering what they could do; going to the hospital would lead to questions and that would lead to potential police involvement. They needed an insider, but who?

"Get me the phone," Sesshomaru muttered to Miroku, rubbing wearily at his eyes.

Miroku, knowing better than to ask question, hurried to grab a phone from the private line in the corner while the others attended to Kagome. After Miroku through the phone to Sesshomaru, he hurried over to where Inuyasha was laying still, staring down at the concrete; he deserved this, all of it.

"Inuyasha, c'mon man," Miroku said, reaching down a hand to his friend. Sighing, Inuyasha took the hand and pulled himself up, dusting off his jeans and wiping a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth; Sesshomaru was really angry this time.

Finally, Inuyasha got his wits about him and walked towards the couch where Kouga had laid Kagome, who was looking pale and as though she were drifting out of consciousness. Sango was dabbing at the girl's face with a cold rag, trying to remove some of the blood and relieve the pain, but seeing Kagome in this condition made him sick to his stomach.

Touching Sango's shoulder, the hanyou said quietly, "I got it," before taking the rag from her hand and taking her place on the edge of the couch. The others watched in fascination as Inuyasha Taisho, tough, strong gang member began dabbing the girl's face with a tender look in his normally hard eyes.

In the corner, Sesshomaru begged the gods that someone would pick up the phone. Finally, he was rewarded with a sleepy, "Hello?"

"Kei, it's Sesshomaru," the demon said soberly.

"Sesshomaru?" The voice sounded surprised. "Oh, hey. You know I'd love to talk anytime, Shomo, but it's almost midnight and I-"

"I know, Kei, I'm sorry about this, but we need you and Nanashi's help and fast," the Fang leader interrupted. "We had a situation at the race and we need some medical help."

There was a brief silence on the other line as sheets rustled in the background and Kei said, "Hold on a minute. Nan, hey Nan, wake up, its the Fangs, they need medics."

A faint voice in the background mumbled, "Whose hurt?" Kei came back on the line and asked, "Sesshomaru, who exactly needs medical help?"

"Ranbou and one of our girls, Kagome. There was a fight at the race, couple of dragons getting out of hand," he explained impatiently. "Please, Kei. I'm in a tight spot here."

"We'll be there in 10."

Smiling slightly Sesshomaru hung up the cell phone just as another car pulled up outside, its lights bright against the darkness. Soon, Ranbou and Shitora came inside, the latter supporting the former, hobbling their way towards the couches as Ranbou grimaced in pain. Kouga cleared things off the other couch as Shitora led his brother gently towards it, helping him sit slowly down and lay backwards. Shitora sat down on the edge of the couch, lifting up the boy's shirt slightly to examine his ribs; the area was growing black and blue, swollen and surrounded by an angry blaring red.

"What, you gonna undress me now, Sukini?" Ranbou asked quietly, chuckling even though it hurt to do so.

Kouga sighed, preparing for an angry explosion from the hanyou girl but, to his surprise, she only smirked. "In your dreams, wolf boy."

"Yeah, in my dreams," Ranbou murmured, head clouded with pain; he hadn't expected Inuyasha to mess him up so badly. It was strange that he went so berserk over Kagome, seeing as though he didn't tend to give the girl the time of day until she talked to some other guy. As far as Ranbou was concerned, this was slightly bizarre. She was just some girl, right? Why get so bent out of shape? Before he could puzzle further over the question, he glanced up at Shitora, who's profile was illuminated by the fluorescent hangar lights above her. She was listening to a conversation at the other couch, yet seemed slightly out of tune. Just her beauty then reminded Ranbou what men would do for women when provoked: almost anything.

Just then, Sesshomaru's appeared above the wolf, white hair falling around his face as he looked down, arms crossed wearily. "Kei and Nanashi will be her in a few minutes. How are you doing?"

Ranbou just snorted. "I'm a full blooded demon, Shomo. How bad could it be?"

But Kouga lowered his eyebrows, spitting out, "You were injured by another full blooded demon, Ran; it'll leave a mark or two."

And it was true; when Inuyasha went crazy like he had at the race, the others had determined that he transformed into a full blooded youkai. Anger and emotional pain seemed to be the two most dangerous triggers, but they couldn't always be avoided. Kagome, who was becoming more conscious by the second, focused in on a fuzzy white and yellow image above her.

"Inuyasha?" she murmured, blinking against the light.

Inuyasha smirked slightly. "Yeah, it's me. How you doin?"

"Okay, I think," Kagome said faintly, putting a hand to her head before attempting to sit up. Before she could do so, however, Sango placed a firm hand on her chest and guided her friend back down.

"No you don't. Kei and Nanashi are coming to examine you and Bo, so just sit tight until then," the girl explained, crossing her arms as though considering this case closed.

"Who?" Kagome asked blearily, not recognizing those names.

Inuyasha put the rag aside and glanced down at her, saying, "Two old leaders. Kei Sasuga led the Fangs and Nanashi Hakabakashi led the Wildcats back in the day. That's how they met and they got married later, had a kid. But anyway, both of em are still kind of involved. Kei chose Sesh for leader and Nan chose Rin; they still make choices like that and shit, but we control everything still. They were the best in the business and they still help us out when we're in a tight spot. Like now. Nan went to med school and somehow, Kei became a lawyer, so they're pretty smart and everythin. Nan's gonna help you and Bo out."

"Okay," Kagome replied, nodding her head slightly yet regretting the motion instantly. "Ow..."

A few minutes later, the sound of tires rolling over gravel sounded from outside and someone killed the engine. Soon, three figures came inside the warehouse through the door, mere silhouettes until they closed the door properly behind them. The tallest of the three was a man with long golden hair, restrained in a stately ponytail at the nape of his neck. His eyes were a startling green, like a dew-damp leaf, and his build was slight yet well formed. He walked with a certain grace which impressed everyone in the room and immediately captured their attention; of course they knew Kei was like that, but seeing him fascinated them damn near every time. As the notice had been short, he was wearing the black sweat pants he'd been sleeping in with a white wife beater on top.

Hurrying along beside him was a fiery looking woman with determined cobalt eyes and the curliest red hair most had ever seen. She let it fall down her back in those maddening curls and could never seem to tame them, no matter how hard she tried. Built rather like Rin, short and generously proportioned, Nanashi commanded attention just like her husband, walking with shorter, quicker strides, the strides of an impatient doctor. She, like her husband, was wearing sweatpants, though a light green, and a black tank top.

Hurrying beside Nanashi was a young boy, who came up to her shoulder or there abouts, a combination of his parents in looks and demeanor. His hair was his mother's copper red, but his eyes were his fathers stark green. He seemed to be quick like his mother but calm like his father, a perfect blend of the two. This boy's name was Shippo Sasuga.

All three of the newcomers played host to a healthy set of fangs and slightly pointed ears for, they were indeed Kitsunes, or, fox demons. Kitsunes were a species which coveted fox magic, a certain type of illusionary techniques which fooled the enemy; this came in hand quite a lot during one's duration amongst gang members for, more often than not, _someone _needed to be fooled around with.

"Hello everyone, good to see you again of course," Kei said in a pleasant tone, face consumed by a moderate smile.

"Thanks for coming, Kei," Sesshomaru said, sounding slightly desperate and almost at his wit's end.

Furrowing his brow, Kei addressed his protégé. "Sesshomaru? You look unwell...are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the dog demon replied curtly, amber eyes flashing a fierce gold.

After a moment, Kei smiled knowingly and said, "Ah, I know that look. Woman troubles, hm? Well, no need to worry, I'm sure you'll work it out. Now, about these injured people..."

Rolling his eyes, Sesshomaru gestured to the couches, where the others were still tending to their friends. Nanashi glanced over and her blue eyes gave a jolt. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed, running a hand through her mess of curls. "What the hell happened?"

"You've always had a way with words, dear," Kei said with a slight smile.

Hurrying over, Nanashi glanced down at Kagome and noted the three jagged gash marks, which someone had taken the sense to clean. Blinking, the woman gave a quirky half smile down at the younger girl and said, "Rough night, kid?"

Kagome snorted, trying to open her eyes again but failing. "Ha, let's do it again," she said hoarsely, smiling slightly through the painful haze.

"My kind of woman!" Nanashi exclaimed, winking at Inuyasha, who was waiting anxiously at Kagome's side. "Now, what's your name, toots?"

"Kagome," Inuyasha answered quickly, never taking his eyes off the girl.

Nanashi cocked an eyebrow, throwing the hanyou a sideways glance. "Okay...well, Kagome, you seem to have yourself a well trained watch dog." When Inuyasha blushed a bright crimson, Nanashi only threw back her head and laughed, a great booming sound which resonated throughout her gut. "No need to be embarrassed Yash, I'm just joking with you. Okay, in all seriousness, do you feel dizzy at all Kagome?"

Kei had, in the meantime, meandered over to where Ranbou was laying, Shitora and Kouga close by. Leaning over the boy, hands peacefully remaining in his pockets, Kei asked, "So, were you on the brunt end of this fight then?"

Ranbou snorted. "Yash whacked me in the gut when he transformed. Not an experience I'd like to repeat."

At this news, Kei furrowed his brow, beginning to look over Ranbou's stomach area. "Hm, transformed, did he? Interesting. What ever for?"

While the golden haired man poked and prodded Ranbou's ribs, much to the wolf's displeasure, Shitora replied, "Kagome was getting roughed up by some Dragons and he got all pissed and shit. It was all downhill from there, if you know what I mean."

"And I do," Kei replied ruefully, finishing his quick check up. "Well, Bo, my friend, you've broken four ribs, which might explain your slight trouble breathing." Before Ranbou could protest, Kei held up one stately hand and declared, "Don't argue, I can tell when you speak. Now there's nothing we can do, really, but medicate you and put you to bed. Sorry, but figuring in your demon strength, you'll still be out for a week, is my guess."

Groaning, Ranbou clenched his clawed fists venomously. "A week? I can't be out for that long and you know it, Kei! I got a gang to run here!"

"Unless you have any immediate assassinations planned, the Reikons should be fine without your help for a few days. Put Hakkaku in charge and leave it at that; what matters is that you regain your strength," Kei said, completely unaffected by the boy's protests; his piercing green eyes remained calm, yet held a commanding spark which Ranbou dare not argue with. "Don't be foolish."

Over with Kagome, Nanashi was inspecting her eyes for concussion symptoms while continuously speaking with the girl, hoping to keep her conscious and engaged. "So, Kagome, you're new around here?"

"Mhmm," Kagome said wearily, voice slightly faded. "Just moved from Kyoto..."

"Ooh, Kyoto, I used to live there," Nanashi said conversationally, inspecting the gashes for signs of infection or abnormalities. "Well, looks like you don't have a concussion and you're just groggy from loss of blood. That's the good news. The bad news is that, without Animocules powder, these cuts are going to leave nasty scars."

"Animocules powder?" Miroku asked, unfamiliar with the term.

Nanashi nodded. "Yeah, special powder made from the rare bud of the Animocules flower. Only a few know how to make it and its not widely mass produced at all, so getting a hold of it is difficult." After a moment, she added thoughtfully, "I would try Kaede, honestly Inuyasha."

Inuyasha, who was only half listening to Nanashi and more looking at Kagome, glanced up and nodded. "I'll ask," he said simply, eyes landing on those awful cuts marring Kagome's perfect face. If only he'd gotten there sooner...

"Hey, baby, how's Bo looking over there?" Nanashi asked as she stood, stretching out her lithe arms.

Kei glanced over, replying, "He broke four ribs in this little skirmish. I told him a week's worth of bed rest with some pain killers."

The redheaded woman smiled slightly. "Perfect; I swear you learn more all the time."

"I try," Kei replied with a hint of humor, winking in his wife's direction.

All this time, Shippo had been gazing around the warehouse with wide eyes, taking in all the sights and sounds with the utmost excitement. His father glanced over at him, smiling at his son's boyish curiosity, and called, "Ship, come over her a moment." The boy nodded obligingly, jogging over to his father with a smile.

"This place is so cool, dad!" Shippo exclaimed, grin growing even as he spoke.

Kei chuckled, ruffling the boy's hair. "Yes, it is. You know how your mother and I said 13 at the earliest?" When Shippo nodded, Kei continued. "Well, I've changed my mind. I think you're mature enough to handle the scene at 12."

Shippo stared blankly at his father for a moment, as though wondering if the man was joking, but he soon realized just how serious he was. "Really? You mean, I can come? Really!"

Kei smiled serenely. "Yes, if Sesshomaru will have you."

"Yes!" Shippo exclaimed, keeping his voice at a reasonable level, lest he disturb the invalids; with a doctor for a mother, he knew better than to irritate the sick and injured. They were, perhaps, the most irritable sort of people one could ever annoy.

Sesshomaru had, by this time, wandered over to where the father and son stood; even from twenty feet away, he'd been able to decipher his name and felt obligated to join the conversation. Shippo looked up at the Fang leader with wide eyes, obviously respectful of Sesshomaru already.

"Sesshomaru, this is my son Shippo," Kei said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "He's been dying to get into the gang scene for six years now, but we told him age 13 at the earliest. However, he's a very mature young man and I've decided to compromise at 12. Make your assessment and be honest."

Now, Kei had taught Sesshomaru to be honest in all his gang dealings, no matter how dishonest the surroundings. Sesshomaru knew that, if he didn't find the young boy fit to join the gang and he said so, Kei would respect his opinion and go on his merry way.

This in mind, Sesshomaru glanced down at the calm redheaded Kitsune and, crossing his muscular arms for the sake of intimidation, asked, "Shippo, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Shippo answered promptly, posture rigid as he stood there.

Biting back a smile at the formal response, Sesshomaru asked, "Do you know anything about cars?"

"Yes sir!" came the boy's energetic response; just at the word "cars" his entire demeanor seemed to change and his eyes lit up, sparkling a brilliant emerald green. "Mom and dad taught me a lot about mechanics and I'm always working with cars . I'm good at it to, sir, I really am. I'll do anything mechanical, anything at all!"

Sesshomaru glanced haphazardly up at Kei, as though awaiting confirmation, and Kei replied with his ever-present wise smile, "He's got a better head for mechanics than I do. Tests say the boy's a genius, wonderful head for numbers and logics. Half the time, he surpasses me in academic standards. I would trust my car with him rather than anyone else."

Shaking his head slightly, Sesshomaru realized that Shippo must truly be something; to hear Kei speak so highly of someone was almost unheard of. To say that Shippo was a genius, whether he be his son or not, was truly amazing. If tests proved the boy's skill, then the only thing Sesshomaru could do was followed his gut instinct. Any child of Kei's must have the blood for the gang, so Sesshomaru let his feeling lead him.

"I don't think we can afford to turn him away, then," Sesshomaru said with a small smile, observing the child with a level of respect Shippo was almost unused to. Normally, older kids didn't respect him at all and only found him a nuisance. If Sesshomaru Taisho, the invincible leader of the fangs, would regard him so respectfully, obviously he was as great a man as everyone claimed.

"Really? Sweet!" Shippo exclaimed, volume rising only slightly as he pumped his fists in triumph. Sesshomaru couldn't help but quirk another smile at the lanky 12 year old; this was the youngest member Sesshomaru had ever inducted during his reign, but he had the feeling he would be all the better for it.

"Be here at noon ever day and we'll have someone drop you off when we're through," Sesshomaru said dismissively, preparing to walk away. "Oh, Shippo?" The boy watched with rapt attention, never looking away, so the dog demon continued. "The rules of the Fangs are simple: one, don't betray, two, carry yourself honorably, and three, don't disrespect this lifestyle. If you break the rules, you're out, plain and simple."

"Um, sir?" Shippo asked, an air of confusion about him. "Aren't those rules a little...vaguely worded?"

The boy truly was smart, Sesshomaru realized; most of the other gang members, four or five years his senior, hadn't asked such a question. "They are. That way, we can interpret them any way we like," Sesshomaru said as a cold reply. "The core and leader are law; you'll come to understand that."

"Yes, sir," Shippo said sternly, nodding once in a curt fashion.

As he walked away, Sesshomaru called back, "And kid, for fuck's sake, don't call me sir."

Shippo watched Sesshomaru's retreating back in awe, stunned by such a strong charismatic man. "Were you like that, dad?" he asked, never removing his eyes from the leader.

Kei smirked. "Just like that, Ship. Come on now, we should grab mom and get home; I have work in the morning and so does she...and come to think of it, so do you. The gang is work." Ruffling his son's hair once more, Kei called, "Nan, we should be going now."

The redhead turned from where she was giving Kagome explicit care instructions. "Alright, I'm coming." Returning her attention to Kagome, she concluded, "And drink lots of fluids to energize your body; it's good for you. Okay?" Kagome gave a sleepy nod, practically asleep on the couch already. "Okay then," Nanashi said again, hurrying to follow her husband and son. "You guys be good now, and call us if you need anything else."

The others called assorted goodbyes as the Sasuga family disappeared behind the warehouse door, homebound once more. There was a brief silence before Sesshomaru said, "Someone needs to get these two home for the night and I would suggest everyone rest themselves as well; we still have things to do tomorrow."

Nodding, the gang members pulled themselves together and began deciding what to do with Ranbou and Kagome.

"I don't think my house is the best place for Kagome," Sango said truthfully, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. The others were aware of Sango's home situation and said nothing in protest, only nodding before moving on; her home life was a completely different story.

"I can take her," Ayame said with a shrug. "My father's been sleeping at the shop for a while now, so I doubt he'll come home tonight. Anyone know if Kagome likes kids?"

"Somehow, I bet she does," Miroku said, smiling a little. "She seems like the motherly type."

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed, rubbing his eyes tiredly; transforming took a lot of energy and he was about to fall asleep on his feet.

"Alright, my house it is then. Glad I brought the car today, huh?" Ayame said, trying to sound cheerful to lift everyone's spirits; she hated seeing her friends so downcast, even after a night like that night.

"And Ranbou oughta be okay at our house," Kouga said with a shrug. "My old man won't give a shit, I don't think. He's pretty understanding for the most part, since he was a Fang and all."

"Right," Sesshomaru said with a nod. "Alright then, let's go get some sleep."

The others agreed whole heartedly, moving in a slow stream towards the door as Ayame and Sango helped Kagome to her feet, leading her slowly towards Ayame's car. Simultaneously, Inuyasha walked over to Ranbou, waving Kouga away and helping the wolf stand shakily, regaining his balance at an agonizingly slow rate. Allowing the wolf to place a good deal of his weight on his shoulders, Inuyasha started moving towards the cars outside.

"Bo, man, I'm sorry about tonight. I didn't even know I was-" Inuyasha began, only to be cut off.

Ranbou chuckled dryly, giving Inuyasha a brotherly nudge with his elbow, "It's cool, Yash, I know. Anything for your chick, right?"

Inuyasha flushed a dark red, lowering his eyebrows and retorting angrily, "She is _not_ my chick!"

The other rolled their eyes and Kouga gave the boy a slight pat on the shoulder. "Whatever you say Inuyasha, whatever you say."

As Sesshomaru watched the others go, his thoughts drifted back once more to Rin. He wondered where she was, what she was doing, how she was fairing after he'd said those terrible things to her. Sighing bitterly, the Fang leader watched the others moving steadily towards their beds. Realizing he could do little about his predicament tonight, Sesshomaru began doing the same, turning out the warehouse lights on the way out. Tonight had certainly been a night to remember, but not one to repeat. If this night were ever repeated, Sesshomaru might just pass his crown to Inuyasha...and that was saying something.

**I tried to make this chapter longer, seeing as though they've been short for a while, This chapter might seem slightly out of no where, but it's important, I'll tell you that. Remember Kagai, because he'll be important in later chapters. No, the bastard isn't dead...unfortunately. I made him to be hated, so hate away. Okay, thanks to all my reviewers, I love you!**

**KOLU**


	14. A Day to Stay in Bed

**And here we go with another fantastic chapter of LDTL, which is actually kind of a dull chapter compared to the last one, of course anything might be, since that one was crazy junk, or dare I say, "crunk". This one is mostly dialogue and exploring feelings. Next chapter is some serious rockin' action! Promise!**

**Thank you reviewers, I love all of you.**

"Jun, is she dead?"

"She isn't dead. Yoshiko, take Kenji to the kitchen and make him breakfast. Hey, Matoko, what are you doing in here? Never mind, just...go sit with Lisoko and help Yoshiko with the baby."

Kagome blinked against the morning sunlight which streamed in through a nearby window, practically blinding her sensetive eyes. She groaned as her head gave a rather painful throb and, finally, she began to make out fuzzy shapes above her. Finally, the girl was able to focus in on a boy only a year or two her junior, perhaps, staring down at her through clever green eyes. His hair was the same rusted red of Ayame's and that's when Kagome finally recalled the previous night; she was in Ayame's house. Truth be told, Kagome had fallen asleep on the ride home and suspected that Ayame carried her inside, but she couldn't remember a thing past saying goodnight to the others at the warehouse.

Sitting up slightly, the girl ran her hand over the deep cuts on her face, which were scabbing over nicely. Just the feel of the rough skin against her fingertips brought Kagai's grungy face to her mind and she winced, wishing away those horrid thoughts. Inuyasha had arrived in time to save her, hadn't he? Even if he had turned into quite the monster, it had all served a purpose.

"Who are you?" Kagome mumbled blearily in the boy's direction, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm Jun, Ayame's brother.You shouldn't move around too much, that bastard got you good," Jun said, voice never raising in volume or pitch; it was a straight, calm monotone.

The girl nodded, head swimming with the motion. "Right. Where's Ayame?"

"Getting dressed; I'm in charge of the younger ones," Jun explained, crossing his arms over his chest. This was when Kagome noticed, for the first time, that Jun's entire right arms was in a full length blue cast.

The girl gasped, asking, "What the hell did you do to your arm!"

Snorting, Jun sighed and leaned back against the chair back. "Shattered it into 47 pieces; I wrecked my motorcycle."

"47 pieces?" Kagome asked so quietly that, even with his demon ears, Jun could barely hear her. "You shattered your arm into 47 pieces? That had to have been some crash," the girl finished, blinking and trying not to vomit at the thought of so much pain; she was in enough of her own at the current time.

"Today's my first day back at work in the garage," he explained. "I'm in the Cobras."

"Oh," Kagome mumbled, finally piecing it all together; Inuyasha had once told her that the Cobras, Bankotsu's gang, were known for pulling ridiculous stunts. "Were you trick riding when you did that?"

"Yeah, and I almost pulled a 1080," Jun hissed out regretfully, narrowing his eyes and looking positively miffed by the fact that he hadn't succeeded. "Bankotsu laughed at me for, like, ever."

Kagome giggled slightly, shrugging her thin shoulders. "Well, it could be worse. It could've been Inuyasha or Ranbou; then you'd never hear the end of it."

Jun rolled his magnificent green eyes, replying, "Please, I already heard an earful from Ranbou at the Lykoi Banquet."

This word was unfamiliar to Kagome, who furrowed her brow in confusion. "Lykoi? What's that?"

Shrugging, Jun replied boredly, "It's the wolf demon clan title here in Japan. We protect other clans and come together to settle issues and what not. Mom was big in it before she died so now Ayame and I have to go to represent our family."

Though the boy spoke of this as though he didn't care, Kagome felt her heart go out to him; no wonder he was so cold and sarcastic. His mother was dead and his father was constantly working overtime at the garage, leaving him and Ayame to deal with five younger children.

"I once heard Kouga say something in wolf tongue," Kagome remembered, recalling the day of her first race with the Fangs. While Kouga and Ranbou had been arguing about something, Kouga let out a string of words with growling and barks entangled around them, making it all sound like a big gargle. "Do all of you speak it?"

"Yes," Jun replied, crossing one leg over the other. "We try to keep the language alive. The only downside is it never progressed with normal speech, so it still uses words like 'thy' and 'thou.' Nothing too complicated though."

Just then, Ayame came jogging into the room, appearing to be in a hurry. Her red hair was flying this way and that as she tried to put on her jacket, only to get her arm caught in a rather awkward position. "Oh, Kagome, you're up, good. Inuyasha called and said if you leave that bed, he'll kick me in the ovary, so don't move."

Kagome's eyes went wide and she asked quite loudly, "WHAT! He wants me to stay in bed all day!"

"That's what the man said," Ayame confessed, shrugging her shoulders and turning to Jun. "Ju-ju, I need you to take the kiddies to Inuyasha's house, Kaede is gonna do us a favor and watch them today. I'm in a big hurry, got to get to the warehouse asap."

Jun cocked and eyebrow and regarded her with the utmost disdain. "And by get to the warehouse you mean make out with Kouga. Alright, then, just this once."

"I love you too," Ayame said sarcastically, the relation between the two Saitou children painfully obvious in that moment; even their mannerisms were the same. "Oh yeah, and don't you overdo it today, no matter what Bank says. I'll massacre him myself if I hear you've been doing anything other than mechanics. **No trick riding. **You hear me Jun?"

The boy stood, proving himself to be a few inches taller than his sister, and held his hands up defensively. "Fine, fine, don't be such a witch about it. No trick riding. I guess I've got the Corvette, then, if I'm carpooling?"

Ayame crossed her arms, lowering her eyebrows dangerously. "Like I would let you take a motorcycle anyway. Now get outta here."

Jun rolled his eyes and gave Kagome a brief wave before grabbing his leather Cobras jacket off the back of the chair and making his way towards the door. Ayame mirrored her brother's eye roll motion for motion and glanced down at Kagome. "Younger brothers; a pain in my ass."

"I have one too, don't worry about it," Kagome replied tiredly, sparing her friend a small smile. "Anyway, about what Inuyasha said...I'm not gonna do it. I promise he won't find out, I just don't want to stay in bed all day."

Ayame made a thoughtful sound and narrowed her eyes, popping her hip to the side before she mused, "I could drop you off at your house on my way to work, if you want. I don't think Rin's going to be coming in today, not after...the thing."

Both girls' expressions darkened at the remembrance of Sesshomaru's cruel words and Kagome snarled, "I swear, if he weren't himself, I'd kick his ass! The nerve of what he said!"

"Hey, I hear ya, as much as it pains me to say it. I've never heard Sesshomaru say anything stupid before. I know that sounds impossible, but he's always so...right. About everything," Ayame mused, shaking her head slowly in wonderment, assorted chains on her clothing jingling as she did so. "He's practically god like, you know?"

"I know," Kagome murmured, giving in to the urge to sigh. "I hate that this happened to Rin, especially. She's been so good to me and everything, I just...I dunno."

The two girls were silent for a moment as images ran through their heads, images of the previous night and all its turmoil. Sighing, Ayame withdrew her keys from her pocket and said, "C'mon, we should get going; I have a feeling I'll be picking up more than one person's load at the garage today."

Nodding slightly, eyes still downcast and simmering with regret, Kagome pulled the covers gently back and rose slowly to her feet, steadying herself before following a stone faced Ayame out the door. Whatever might happen tooday, she had a feeling none of it would be very good. Of course she was just a girl trying to figure things out; what did she know?

!

Kouga sighed deeply, hot air surrounding his face as he buried it in his pillow. Days like these made him want to hide beneath the comforter, never to come out and face the real world, but his sense of responsibility outweighed this desire. Besides that, he wouldn't see Ayame beneath the security of his sheets; that in and of itself was enough of a reason to motivate his lazy ass.

The wolf demon threw back the covers and hurriedly slipped on a pair of jeans and a black wife beater, sure to grab his Fangs jacket from his door knob on the way out. The sound of faint radio music and the smell of cooking beef drifted from the kitchen, drawing Kouga's attention away from Ranbou's door; his first intent was to check on his brother, but the activity in the kitchen perked his interest.

"Dad?" Kouga asked in surprise as he stood in the kitchen doorway, blinking slightly as he watched the broad back moving over the stove.

Kibishii Ookami was a large man, standing strong at 6'4 with thick shoulders and a stern air about him. His hair, kept in a long dark braid at the nape of his neck, was the same startling black of his sons, though his eyes were the blood red of the Hanto line. The Hanto were reknowned hunters from the early days of the Ookamis, noblemen if they could be considered that; Kouga and Ranbou had taken on their late mother's eyes.

Kibishii glanced over his shoulder and smiled, the perfect image of Kouga's smile. "Good morning, Kouga. Late night?"

"You could say that," Kouga mumbled, slightly confused. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd be home."

Shrugging, the older demon used a utensil to remove the sizzling beef from the frying pan, slipping it neatly onto a plate. "I got in from Hong Kong last night and thought I'd spend a meal with you two this morning before I went back over seas to America this afternoon. I'll be gone for a few weeks at the least."

Kouga snorted quietly, never making a motion towards the table. "Right. Well, if you want to have breakfast with both of us, we'll have to have it in Ranbou's room. He ain't movin'."

"Why not?" Kibishii asked, quirking an eyebrow and giving his youngest son an amused smile.

But Kouga did nothing to return his father's good humor. "He was in a fight last night, broke four ribs. You know how it is."

Silent for a moment, Kibishii finally asked, "Otherwise, is he alright?"

"Yeah, Kei and Nan looked him over last night. He should be fine in a week," Kouga replied, turning away from his father. "I'm gonna go check on him and head on out. It oughta be a long day at the garage."

Before he could leave, however, Kibishii said suddenly, "I'm getting out, Kouga."

Blinking, Kouga felt his heart go completely still; had his father just said those words? It seemed almost too good to be true, but Kouga rounded on his father, asking stiffly, "Really?"

Kibishii nodded curtly. "I'm retiring. I'll be out for good."

But Kouga couldn't help but be pessimistic. Narrowing his ice blue eyes coldly, Kouga growled, "Dream on, Dad. Yakuza don't let you 'get out for good.'"

"You're right. If they think you know something, Yakuza don't let you go; but if you're just an assassin, they don't give a shit," Kibishii replied, wolfish grin breaking out on his features. "I've already sworn everything I own to them if I betray; with that kind of leverage, I'm already guaranteed a ticket out. Besides that, Houshi owes me favors. We're men of our word, Yamato and I."

In that moment, Kouga felt almost unable to think or breathe, even to stand. For as long as he could remember, his father had been a high payed Yakuza assassin, working for the area mob boss, Yamato Houshi, otherwise known as Miroku's father. Ranbou had taken after his father with his ruthless killing skills, but Kouga couldn't stand the very sight of his father; it was his fault the rest of Kouga's siblings were gone and he could barely bear it. If it weren't for the Fangs permanent location in Tokyo, Kouga wouldn've followed the rest of them out the door. But he and Ranbou had friends to cling on to, unlike their siblings. They had responsibilities, duties, and they would see them through.

"Once you...once you're out, you should come to one of the races," Kouga managed to get out, unable to meet his father's eyes. "Bo and I never lose."

Kibishii could understand everything behind those words and gave his son a small smile, a smile weathered by time and countless sights of brutality. "I'd like that."

Not one to remain in the line of fire, Kouga hurried towards Ranbou's room, leaving his father behind to eat his beef. Once safely inside Ranbou's room, Kouga dropped his jacket and covered his face with both hands, wondering why he hadn't stayed in his bed that morning. A sudden voice startled him from his thoughtful position.

"He's getting out, huh?"

Glancing at the bed, Kouga noted than Ranbou was laying prostrate, staring blankly up at the ceiling with a small smirk on his lips. "What a bastard. What a sly old bastard."

Kouga shook his head slowly, retrieving his jacket from the floor before saying gruffly, "If you heard that, I guess you heard he's goin' outta town. I'll send someone over with lunch, alright? If you get up, I swear to god I'll light you're girly ass hair on fire."

Slipping on his jacket, Kouga made as though to go, leaving a blank faced Ranbou behind before the older brother murmured, "Yeah. Great."

Kouga paused, glancing back at his brother, who looked anything but normal for himself. "You okay?" Kouga asked, sheerly out of habit.

Ranbou was silent for a moment before he murmured, "Why did she do it? That's what I been wonderin' all morning; why did she do it? I mean, I'm a bitch to Sukini and she still helped me, smiling and everything. Why?"

His younger brother only snorted, replying, "That's the way Shitora works. She's a hard ass, but she cares about everyone, just the way her brothers do. We'll never really understand em, I guess."

"I guess not," Ranbou mused as his brother left the room, leaving him alone with the defeaning silence and still shadows. "Stupid Taishos, god damn it..."

"Crap, this engine is gonna take more work than they paid me for. Where's Rin? I need her to call up Sokai and tell him no way!"

Sesshomaru let out a feral sigh, vein popping at the mere mention of his girlfriend; all morning long, mechanics had been asking for her left and right, with business associates close behind them. Wildcats wanted her advice on territory, boys wanted her advice on girls and everyone else wanted her advice on payment; it took her absence to prove how much she was needed.

"She's not here today," Sesshomaru bit out in Hakkaku's direction, teeth threatening to bare at the thought of her face.

Hakkaku, who only knew the details of the previous night's brawl, cocked and eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Well, where the hell is she? I'm drowning over here!"

"Yeah, well so am I," Sesshomaru bit back, loudly and unintentionally revealing his insecurities surrounding his fight with Rin. The others went silent for a moment, pausing in their mechanical exploits to spare their leader sympathetic glances; even though he'd said stupid things, they hated to see their normally inpenetrable friend bothered by the mere absence of his girlfriend. It was humbling to say the least.

Shippo shook his head, wiping a smudge of grease from his forehead. "He and Rin are really close, aren't they?"

Despite Sesshomaru's instructions to arive at noon, Shippo had come strolling into the warehouse sometime around ten, immediately jumping in to help Sango on an old model Ford. As Sango had little knowledge of carbureators, Shippo had grabbed a wrench, setting in on the machine with knowledge and ferocity unheard of at his age. The others had soon gathered around him, watching with a perverse sort of fascination as he devoured the entire machine bolt by nut and, soon, it was more finely tuned that a car fresh off the lot. Hands down, everyone agreed that Shippo was the best mechanic in the garage to date.

Sango and Miroku, who'd been working with the kitsune for the greater part of the morning, exchanged glances. Miroku replied, "'Close' isn't exactly the word I'd use. 'Joined at the hip' is a good phrase. 'Incestual siamese twins' is another. 'Married' is a nice one I like to use sometimes."

Snorting with laughter, Sango agreed, "Ever since the day they started going out in the eighth grade, we all knew it would last forever. And...apparently we were right. This fight is just a bump in the road, you'll see. They've only fought twice before, but every fight makes you stronger."

"I never would've thought that," Shippo murmured, exchanging out wrenches by a millimeter size before returning to his work on a '94 Corolla's gear box. "About fights, I mean. I always thought fights were like the precursor to a break-up."

Even though he wasn't actually part of this conversation, Inuyasha, who was working on a Mercedes Coupe adjacent to the trio, was listening intently. At this observation by the young kitsune, Inuyasha paused what he was doing immediately and turned to stare at the boy. "Okay, A) that's only if a relationship is weak as all hell and B) what kind of 12 year old kid uses the word 'precursor'!"

Rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly, Shippo blushed a bright red. "Heh, Dad's got a big vocabulary, I probably pick up some of that from him."

"Is that where you learned how to kick our ass at mechanics, too?" Inuyasha asked with a tad of accusatory venom, crossing his muscular arms in a bracing way.

Sango intervened quickly, saying, "Well, Nan taught me everything I know about cars..."

"And Kei did the same for me, so it's no wonder he's a genius with those two for parents" Miroku finished up neatly, smiling peaceably in his best friend's direction; ever since the previous night's brawl, Inuyasha had been irritable and on the edge, wondering about Kagome's condition and questioning his physical and moral control. How could a sight so marginally violent set him off into demon mode? What about Kagome made him so...vulnerable to drastic changes?

"Feh, whatever," Inuyasha muttered bitterly, turning swiftly away from his friends and returning to his work on the Benz. Shippo gave a small sigh, deciding to add one to the neverending list of 'people who hate Shippo because he's smart.' Everyone at school thought it fit to pelt him with food and glue, sometimes dangerous things like rocks and eating utensils. Just because he was different, Shippo was subject to all sorts of torture in school; why couldn't the rest of the world give him a break for once?

After a while, Inuyasha gave up on his fruitless endeavor to fix the Mercedes and threw down his wrench with an audible clatter, stomping angrily towards the lounge area to grab a beer. Once he was safely out of earshot, Miroku turned to Sango under the hood of the Corolla, where he was examining the drive shift. "Sango, I just wanted to ask; did you notice something going on between Inuyasha and Kagome last night?"

The girl grinned, hefting a recently assembled cylinder in her hand. "Most definitely."

"That girl with the cut face?" Shippo asked curiously, recalling the pretty yet unfortunately bloodied face of a young girl the night before.

"That's the one; those two have something going on, we don't know what. I mean, Inuyasha's a jerk, but not this much of a jerk; he's only pissed off because he's worried about Kagome," Sango explained, unable to stop from grinning uncontrollably as she disclosed this information.

"I heard he transformed because some Dragon kids were pushing her around," Shippo mentioned, raising a stately eyebrow as one of the pistons came unscrewed.

Miroku snorted. "The word 'transformed' makes it sound so tame. He turned into an unstoppable wild animal and beat Kagai within an inch of his life. I wouldn't be surprised if Kagai kicked it during the recovery period."

Shippo sighed, giving his intelligent head a slow shake. "I don't understand that. I don't understand how he could transform just because something made him angry. It's...irresponsible and dangerous. He could've killed one of his friends and never known."

Unable to say anything against this theory, Sango nodded grimly and replied, "He could've. But it wasn't anger that made him transform, I don't think."

"Really?" Miroku asked, interest obviously piqued at this proposal. "So what do you think did it?"

The girl smiled wryly, wiping off a few screws on a grease rag as she peered at the clear skies outside the warehouse. "A far more powerful emotion, one that can make anyone, human or demon, do anything for someone else."

Miroku and Shippo exchanged glances, shrugging their shoulders before returning to work; Sango caught their confusion out of the corner of her eye, but she said nothing and only smiled knowingly; they would know someday, one of them sooner than he might think. As Hugh Grant once stated so eloquently, love actually is everywhere.

On the other side of the garage, Kouga rolled out from underneath a dying Honda, arms covered from fingertip to elbow in bottomless black grease. The boy sat up slowly from the dolly, grabbing a towel and trying to wipe the substance from his face; his attention elsewhere, Kouga had accidentally punctured the lubrication chamber in the undercarriage, which immediately brought a steady torrent of grease down upon him. Perhaps, in retrospect, staying in bed really would've been the smart thing to do.

Standing stiffly to his feet, Kouga glanced at the clock above the tool benches and gave a curse, turning to address the warehouse. "Hey, can somebody take Bo lunch? I'm...well, covered in shit."

The others gave small chuckles at their friend's predicament, though they dared not give all out laughter; Kouga was in much too poor a mood for that kind of teasing. The others exchanged glances as though wordlessly deciding who would take on the job. Several were about to consent when a surprising volunteer said, "I'll do it."

All eyes turned to Shitora, who was standing innocently apart from her motorcycle, wiping her hands distractedly on a rag. After noticing the strange silence surrounding her proposal, Shitora glanced up, amber eyes wide with confusion. "What?"

Inuyasha cleared his throat and took a step forward, gesturing towards his sister with his beer. "I'll do it Tora, I mean, I'm the one that fucked him over."

But the girl had already set aside her grease rag and put up her wrenches, grabbing her car keys off a nearby tool table. "No, Yash, that's fine, I got it. I bet he likes hamburgers."

And with this, the girl quickly left the warehouse, never meeting anyone's eyes during her walk of shame. Immediately following her abrupt departure, Ayame turned to the others and asked blankly, "Did that just happen?"

"I dunno," Kouga murmured, squinting as he watched the Corvette's bumper disappear behind the farthest warehouse; it appeared Shitora and Ranbou's open animosity wasn't as violent as the others made it out to be after all.

_"He's everything to everyone! Take me!"_

_Small arms, bloody and ghostly in the muddy moonlight, encircled his barely rising chest, raining tears down upon his cheeks. He wasn't sure what caused him more pain; the sight of Shitora so broken, or the sight of his body immobile from blood loss. What was she screaming? "Take me?" What a foolish thing to ask; if anyone was going to die, it would be him, not her. She was too perfect to die. At least to him._

_"Please don't leave me, please," she sobbed, eyes wide and lip busted open from an obviously dangerous encounter. "I love you, okay? I never said it enough, but I'll say it fucking five million times if that's what you want! I love you, I love you, I love...you..."_

_Before she could finish her repetitive declerations of love, the girl's eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed atop her fallen lover, body completely still. Despite his detachment from the scene, Ranbou felt himself reach out to her, reach out to the girl who had fallen over his own corpse. She couldn't die, not her. Anyone but her..._

"Hey, Bo, wake up, you're dreaming."

Ranbou's eyes snapped open and he took in the sight of his ceiling, the closet door, pictures of the gang and his friends plastered all over the walls. He noticed how hazy and wild everything seemed, not to mention how labored his breathing was, and the boy sighed, leaning back heavily against the pillows; his ribs were aching fiercely again.

Shitora was kneeling beside the bed, a bag of delicious smelling lunch at her side, but she seemed to have forgotten the meal altogether. Placing a tentative hand on Ranbou's forehead, the girl recoiled fiercely. "Fuck, you're hot."

Even in his state, Ranbou chuckled and replied, "I could've told you that."

"You're such a dick," the girl replied sharply, turning so quickly that her snow white hair caught Ranbou across the face; she smelled like cars and cinammon. "We need to give you medicine, cause I'm assuming you haven't done it yourself, lazy ass."

Ranbou said nothing, finding himself almost too tired to talk, and he watched blearily as she hurried into the kitchen, obviously looking for pills. He watched her perfect ass, swinging back and forth in those tight leather pants as she hurried out of the room; what a beautiful sight to wake up to.

"Here you go," Shitora said suddenly, breaking Ranbou out of his reverie as she returned with two pills and a bottle of water. "Take these."

Doing as he was told, Ranbou weakly ingested the pills and choked down a sip of water, coughing slightly against the liquid in his sore chest. "Crap, this really sucks," he muttered, feeling slightly more aware, even in his feverish state.

"Breaking four ribs isn't supposed to be rainbows and unicorn farts," Shitora replied dryly, raising one caustic eyebrow in the boy's direction. "You really are an idiot."

Sighing, Ranbou shifted his ice blue eyes to meet Shitora's amber ones, locking them in place. "Could you cut it out with the insults? I'm trying here."

After a brief moment of silence, during which Shitora bit her lip and felt slightly ashamed of her attitude, she finally murmured, "Sorry, I've been in one of those moods lately. One of those bitchy moods. Hell, why am I dancing around it, all of you can smell it."

Chuckling, Ranbou grinned and winked one eye in her direction. "Sure, but we ain't saying nothin'. That'll just get our asses kicked, am I right? But seriously, three or four of you at the same time is quite a handful."

While Shitora normally would've been offended by this blatant attack on the menstrual cycle, she only blinked and began to laugh, a light hearted bubbling laugh which she hadn't let out in quite some time. "Sorry; we'll try to reschedule that," came her jokingly sarcastic reply.

"You better," Ranbou joked in return, pushing himself gently into a more upright position; it hurt something fierce, but he managed to resettle himself comfortably.

Shitora reached over and retrieved the bag of food, holding it proudly aloft. "A double quarterpounder from Lucky's with everything on the side; I knew you didn't like mustard or mayo, but I wasn't sure how you preferred your onions these days. Besides, I thought I'd let you do your smiley faces and whatnot."

Ranbou grinned. "You remember the way I like my hamburgers? God, you know you've known someone forever when..."

Shitora rolled her eyes. "Shut up, I know its pathetic, I just have a good memory for stuff like that. Well, I'm starved and I didn't just come all the way here to watch _you _eat."

Both parties took their food from the bag and began eating furiously away as only half and whole demons could do, devouring the food at a terrifying pace. Eventually, Ranbou had finished his double quarterpounder and sighed contentedly, leaning back against the pillows. He'd noticed Shitora sneaking glances at his bare chest during the past ten minutes, but he said nothing and only smiled a cocky smile at the ceiling; just let her look, he wasn't ashamed.

But finally, Ranbou's mind drifted to more serious thoughts, such as their time spent together the previous night. Sparing a glance in Shitora's direction, he asked rather suddenly, "Why did you help me last night?"

The girl looked up from her burger, chewing innocently on a bite. She stared at him for a moment while she finished chewing, finally swalloing and wiping off her mouth crudely with the back of her hand. "Um...what?"

"Last night, you helped me and I wanna know why. I treat you like shit and I always have. Why are you still cool with me?" Ranbou asked desperately, voice raising with every word; even his eyes reflected his intense confusion.

Shitora was silent for a moment before she shrugged her thin, pale shoulder, refusing to meet his eyes. "Both of us treat the other like shit, but that doesn't mean we're not friends or something. I mean, I used to hate you, but...I dunno. You're not so bad. And I'm not bad either, right?"

Ranbou was silent for a moment, regarding the girl with his piercing blue eyes. "Course you're not. I was talking mostly about me. I mean, calling you Sukini and all that shit."

"I don't really care about that dumb name anymore," Shitora replied dismissively, cocking her head cutely to the side. "I mean, I used to be skinny back in the day. I just grew up and you're used to calling me that. No big deal."

Sighing heavily, Ranbou leaned back against his pillow with a weary expression on his face. "You're something else, you know that?"

"Thanks, I think," Shitora replied with a hint of her old sharp wit. "I think we should call an official truce, whadya think?"

Ranbou sat up slightly, propping himself up on one elbow. "Why the hell not."

The two shook hands, Shitora's small pale on in Ranbou's larger tan one. Simultaneously, they murmured, "Truce," before dropping the warm handshake, however reluctant they were to do so. Glancing haphazardly in the other's direction, they both wondered what would come of this; two of the greatest rivals in gang history calling a truce? What could that possibly mean? Whatever it meant, it sure made them feel strangely at ease.

"Rin, please eat something, you'll get sick," Kagome pleaded, brushing a piece of stray hair away from her eyes.

Currently, Kagome was carrying on a one-sided conversation with Rin in the gardens, trying to solicit at least one word from her cousin. Surrounded by the beautiful flowers and overhanging willow trees, Rin should've been in a wonderful mood, and yet she was practically unreachable by human words or feelings. Her eyes had a soft yet forewarned look about them, as though she hesitated to trust even Kagome during this time of uncertainty. Sesshomaru's words still plagued her, the words where he'd put down the whole of the human race, not to mention human women. Simple, he'd called them, as though they didn't possess feelings like demons; it was positively proposterous, but the sentiment stll stung.

"I'm begging you, Rin," Kagome tried again, claspnig her hands together as though praying to the gods.

Yet Rin remained completely still, staring down at a patch of orchids, which were waving lazily in the wind. Ever since Kagome had returned that morning, Rin had been in this state, never talking or moving. It pained Kagome to see her cousin like this, but she couldn't spare too much energy caring for Rin; she herself was injured and in sore need of a good rest. She'd spent so much of her time worrying about Rin she'd practically forgotten to tend to herself.

Sighing, Kagome turned on her heels and left Rin simmering in the garden, making the trek back up to the main house with a slow gait. Once she'd finally arrived inside, the girl shut the glass doors and turned, pressing her head against them; cool, calming, pure. A voice interrupted her reverie, however.

"There you are."

Kagome whirled around so quickly that her head practically dislocated from her neck and she winced as a sudden lance of pain shot through her cheek. The wounds were growing dry and hurt everytime her skin stretched now. Inuyasha furrowed his brow in concern, closing the small gap between them and muttering, "What the hell are you doing, walking around? I'm taking you upstairs right now."

Before Kagome could ask what he was doing in her house, the boy swept Kagome gently up into his arms, holding her securely there as he began his climb up the curving staircase. Though the motion was unncessary, it was chivalrous and Kagome appreciated it; Inuyasha was a physical who displayed a good deal of his feelings through bodily display. This was a physical embodiment of his concern for her and she was truly touched.

Finally, Inuyasha kicked the door of Kagome's room lightly open and walked inside, setting her down upon the bed as though she were a priceless porcelain doll. The girl sighed, sinking back against the soft covers; she was sure she didn't look her best, but she could've cared less at the moment; she knew Inuyasha didn't care either. She was wearing loose cotton capris and a singlet, hoping for comfort in her time of pain, but Inuyasha still thought she looked beautiful.

"I came to check on you after work; Aya told me she brought you here," Inuyasha explained, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He was still wearing the jeans and wifebeater which he'd worn to the warehouse, but there was no grease on his clothing. Not to mention that he smelled like the garage, a scent which comforted Kagome; she'd really grown to love it.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," Kagome said quietly, smiling up at the boy with her heart lifting smile. "I'm feeling a lot better, but I'm worried about Rin."

Inuyasha furrowed his brow, asking, "What's wrong with her?"

"She hasn't eaten all day and she's been sitting in the garden since this morning; she's still in her clothes from last night. I think what Sesshomaru said really got to her," Kagome replied sadly, shaking her head.

Sighing, the hanyou replied gruffly, "He was just being a dumbass older brother; that's how he shows he's worried, he bitches at me till he's blue in the face. Good thing he isn't worried about me much. He just wasn't thinking when he spouted off that demon supremacy crap; I give him three days."

"You think so?" Kagome murmured, looking up at Inuyasha with her wide brown eyes. "That's a long time, considering how close they are."

Inuyasha shrugged, replying, "Eh, he's a prideful bastard. I mean, he's a gang leader; it's in his job description."

Giggling, Kagome replied, "I guess you're right."

The two fell into a comfortable silence, broken only by the twittering of birds outside, before Inuyasha addressed Kagome with a stunningly sober expression on his face.

"Kagome? I wanted to...apologize for what you saw last night. I don't know why I couldn't control my transformation, but...it won't happen again," he said, never daring to meet her eyes as he explained this weakness. Just the thought of defiling her beautiful eyes with the sight of his demon form brought bile to his mouth; how foul it made him feel.

But Kagome only sat up, regarding Inuyasha with an earnest boldness in her eyes. She reached out one pale hand, daringly touching his cheek and turning his eyes to meet hers. "I trust you, Yash. What I saw makes no difference; I know you did what you did because you care about me and that's enough. You don't have to explain to me because...I feel like I already know."

Inuyasha was silent as he watched Kagome's eyes, which smiled just like the curving of her lips; it was amazing how one smile could brighten and entire face like that, but iw as beautiful. This was something which he adored dearly about Kagome: her ability to trust. Most wouldn't trust him as far as they could throw him due to his half demon heritage. With half of both worlds running in his veins, he could turn his back on one and play devil's advocate at the drop of a hat. But Kagome was different; even after a few weeks with him, she trusted in his abilities so fiercely that she would even put her life in his hands, not even batting an eyelash. That was the kind of person Kagome was; this wasn't to say she would trust any old guy, but she had an uncanny sense when it came to people's personalities. She was, dare he say, godly.

"Thanks, Kagome," Inuyasha said quietly, a smile capturing his lips as he observed her with shimmering amber eyes. "Thanks."

**Well, there's another chapter; this one was really hard to write, even if it doesn't look it, but I pushed it out for my dear friend EYES OF THE MIDNIGHT WOLF! HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN! Everyone be sure to drop her a line saying happy sweet sixteen on June 29, 2006! Can you drive yet? Do tell!**

**Thanks to all my reviewers and a happy birthday to EOTM! (haha, I shortened your name. I can't really pronounce it now, but it looks cool, teehee. When I do pronounce it, I say YO-TEM.)**

**KOLU**


	15. The Barrel of a Gun

**Back again with another chapter! This one is a wild ride, so hold on to your hats; something about my stories is I have a tendency to bring back minute details and expect people to remember them, so I'll just quietly remind you to read carefully, lest you not understand. Okay, that's all, read on!**

Within the rank confines of the Tarantula's hideout, mutterances of confusion mixed with the metallic movement of weapons as three allied gangs tried to make heads and tails of their new possessions. Naraku, Akago and Ryokoytsusei watched from a safe distance as their underlings fiddled around with the experimental weapons they'd stolen three weeks prior, turning them about and peering at them like fascinated apes at a campfire. The Sharks, for the most part, just rolled their eyes and tried to confiscate the weapons before the Tarantulas and Dragons could do themselves damage, but it was often too late; every once and a while, a strange sounding shot would ring off and everyone would duck, sheerly out of a habit formed in the past weeks. Seeing as though these were _experimental _weapons, several of them still had a few kinks and others were too complicated for the common man to operate. This didn't stop the North, however; they continued right on with their play, not seeming to care if they got shot in the process.

Akago released a sigh, smoke pouring out of his mouth as he did so; the company of Ryo and Naraku made him distinctly uncomfortable. "I know I've said it before and I hate sounding like a broken record, but do you two really think it's wise to fiddle with these weapons when we don't know how to work them?"

Before Ryo and Naraku could respond, the familiar sound of the space age machine gun rattled throughout the warehouse, multiple shots of new fangled marble bullets racketing off the walls. There were a few curses and threats when the noise ended, followed directly by, "Sorry!"

Naraku rolled his eyes and massaged his temples. "They're just guns; how hard can it be?"

"I still don't get why we need these pieces of shit at all; the Dragons could take Salter without them!" Ryo exclaimed, pounding his scarred fist on the table. His eyes roved wildly between Naraku and Akago, though neither of them seemed impressed by the green haired gang leader.

"Just like you took Ookami at the beginning of the summer, I suppose?" Akago jabbed, referring to Ryo's pitiful loss to a raving mad Kouga several weeks prior.

While Naraku chuckled, Ryo narrowed his eyes and growled, "Watch what you say, drug lord! You might just wake up dead tomorrow!"

"And how the hell do you wake up dead?" asked a voice from behind the gang leaders, sounding clever and sharp witted.

They all turned to observe the rather thin boy strolling towards them, hands in his jean pockets and black cabbie hat forever hiding his hair. His eyes were a playful violet, though he appeared to be human, and his shoulders were thin and narrow. He was small for a boy his age, rather pretty in the face, but Akago only smiled at the boy, shrugging his shoulders. "I know not, Gan."

Gan chuckled; his voice was rather lilting and musical, not at all befitting a young boy of 16, but he seemed perfectly secure in himself as he took a leisurely seat beside his leader. "Well, then I think that was an empty threat."

Crossing his arms cockily, Gan cocked a thin eyebrow in Ryo's direction, completely unaffected by the Dragon leader's flaming mad stare. Naraku, who was in a rather good mood as of late, continued to chuckle at the scene before him. "Ah, Gan the Gun. Still as sharp as ever."

"Thanks very much, Naraku, I try to sharpen my wit every morning before I leave the house," Gan replied craftily, smiling curving into a rather devious smirk, a motion which contorted the shape of the freckle cloud dotting his nose.

"I would hope my doctor is sharp witted," Akago said with a hint of amusement, "Seeing as though he's also my second in command. Or else, what would I be exactly?"

"Nothing; you're only as good as the crowd behind you," Gan replied, winking one violet eye in his leader's direction.

"Will you two shut up already!" Ryo exploded, breaking a chunk off the edge of the table with his claws as he gripped it sternly.

Naraku clapped Ryo fearlessly on his meaty shoulder, saying, "What you need is a girl, Ryo. Kanna, come here please!"

At her name, a small white haired girl, clad in nothing but a set of black lace underwear and boots, turned on her heels and strutted seductively towards the leader's table. Gan snuck a glance at Akago, who gave off an apathetic air, but Gan the Gun knew him better; inside, the Shark leader was a mess of emotions as he dealt with the sight before him. Naraku was purposefully taunting him with the sight of his sister, scantily clad and preparing to please Ryo right before his eyes, but he wouldn't give in to such a plan. He refused to.

"Ryo's a little stiff; why don't you loosen him up?" Naraku suggested lightly, words laced with vile undertones. Kanna, not at all offended, smirked devilishly and turned to Ryo, who was looking at her with a certain measure of distaste.

"Whadya say?" she cooed, leaning over and looking him cutely in the eyes, breasts practically falling out of her shirt into his lap.

But Ryo snorted, turning pointedly away from the girl, "I don't want her. I want Taisho's sister."

Kanna straightened back up, eyes seething with hatred. "That skinny little twat? Like she'd ever give it up to you." And before anyone cut utter a word in her direction, Kanna turned on her heels and stormed away, ass rocking back and forth with the quick motion of her little legs.

The table let out a simultaneous sigh, Naraku's one of amusement, Akago's one of relief, and Gan's one of tired acceptance; that was the way the Vixens were and who was he to judge? The Tarantula leader smiled malevolently in Ryo's direction, asking, "You have you're eye on Miss Taisho? You just love picking fights with the Ookamis, don't you?"

Ryo furrowed his brow, honestly confused. "The Ookamis? What the hell do they have to do with anything?"

But Gan only snorted, replying, "Please. She and the older Ookami boy are hot for each other; anyone with two eyes could see that. She's pretty much taken, as I see it."

"We'll see about that," Ryo murmured lowly, turning his feral gaze away from the others; he had his own plans involving Shitora Taisho. And none of them were good.

"Wow, Shippo, that was fast! You really _are _a good mechanic!"

Inuyasha snorted and rolled his eyes as he listened to Kagome's pathetic fawning echoing around the warehouse. The way he saw it, she was being perfectly ridiculous about Shippo's abilities surrounding the car. He could beat that little punk if he really wanted to, but he just preferred to take his time with the machines; it was something that came with maturity and Shippo just didn't understand yet.

It had been a week and a half since the fight and both Ranbou and Kagome were back at work. Rin, however, hadn't been seen by anyone but Kagome since her falling out with Sesshomaru. Also, since that day, Sesshomaru had been in a notoriously bad mood, but as of late he was appearing more weak than angry. At the current time, he was sitting at a table in the back, looking over papers with his spectacles on. As he punched in another number on the calculator, footsteps approached him and he glanced up.

"Hey there," Ayame said casually, taking a seat beside him.

"Hello yourself," came his reply as he continued with his work.

There was a brief silence between them as Ayame realized this might be harder than she first anticipated. Finally, she said, "There's no use beating around the bush; I came over here to tell you I think you're being stupid. If you just go to Rin's and apologize, all of this will be over and things will go back to normal."

Sesshomaru looked for all the world as though he hadn't heard her and he only continued jotting down numbers on the bill, never meeting her gaze. "Right," came his murmured response, proving himself to be completely uncaring as to what she might be suggesting.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Ayame through up her hands and declared, "Hopeless. You're hopeless," before rising and returning to the garage area.

Ranbou glanced up as Ayame came storming back towards the cars, shaking his head slowly. Using a grease rag to wipe his forehead free of smudges, he flexed his arms lithely and turned to Shitora; the two had been working in close proximity since their "truce" was called a week and a half prior. "Shomo's real proud about this one," he said, sounding more amused than horrified.

Without looking up, Shitora continued to screw in pistons on a torqued out engine. "Well, runs in the family I guess. But if by 'real proud about this one' you mean 'is a total heartless bastard' then yes, I agree."

Furrowing his brow, the wolf demon walked over and leaned down on the edge of the inner hood, bare chest glistening with a fine layer of sweat. "I wouldn't go that far, Sukini. He's just...a guy. We're like that. He'll figure it out."

Sighing irritably, Shitora set the wrench down on the floor and straightened up, pulling back her now smudged white hair into a ponytail. She too had shed her shirt and this action of reaching back her hands caused Ranbou to look quickly away; sometimes, she did things without knowing how sexy it was and, when she did, he just tactfully ignored it and turned away. "A week and a half, Ranbou. An entire week and a half. That's not stubborn, that's...gay!"

Ranbou chuckled at her usage of the word, turning back around and watching as hefted the wrench and resumed her work on the sharp ended pistons. "Don't be so harsh. Shomo's the smartest guy in this joint, except for maybe Ships over there. But I think he'll be fine."

Shitora snorted. "Yeah, but if he doesn't figure it out soon, I'm gonna talk to him. I would hate to see him an R- ow!"

The girl jolted slightly beneath the hood and Ranbou immediately leaned down to see what the trouble was; unfocused as she worked, Shitora had cut a jagged line down her finger with the piston's dangerous end. The scent of her blood entered his nostrils and Ranbou mulled over the smell; her blood had that hint of cinnamon, just like her skin, with a tinge of carnality about it. Blood itself was a carnal thing, as he saw it; most blood held that wild aroma.

"Easy there," he murmured, taking her hand in hers and glancing it over. "Hell, what did you do, challenge the piston to a duel?"

"Ha ha," Shitora replied sarcastically. "I was reaching away to get a smaller wrench and sliced it. Crap, I'm dripping blood all over the engine."

Ranbou smiled slightly, amused that the engine was her first and only worry, and put a hand on her back. "Let's go get that cleaned up, Sukini." The girl sighed and nodded wearily, allowing him to lead her towards the lounge area to clean the cut.

In the back, many of the mechanics had decided to take a break and were lying around smoking cigarettes, wasted by the hot morning. By this time, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sesshomaru, Kouga and Miroku had all lit cigarettes and Sango was looking for one; it was interesting how the hottest days coaxed cigarettes out of pockets, but somehow, they did. At the current time, Inuyasha and Kagome were trying to blow smoke rings and Miroku was laughing at their attempts, watching Kouga as he produced one perfect ring after another.

Ranbou used a clean, wet rag to clean Shitora's cut and found the first aid kit, helping her wrap a bandage around it; Band-Aids were far too flimsy and tended to come off at random. The girl flexed her finger slightly, wincing at the split feeling which comes just after a cut. "Thanks Bo," she said, frowning at the discomfort in her finger.

Glancing over at the smoking circle, she jerked her head in that direction and Ranbou followed, quickly removing a box of cigarettes from his own pocket. Shitora leaned down to address her brother. "Hey Yash, you got a smoke?"

"Yep," he said, continuing to blow smoke rings, or at least trying to. Shitora was still for a moment before she realized that her question hadn't really hit its mark.

"Can I have one?" she urged forward, raising her eyebrows.

"Nope," he replied simply, letting out a triumphant chuckle as he finally blew an honest to god smoke ring from his lips.

"Why not?" she asked irritably.

"Because I don't want you smokin," he said, as though it should be obvious. By this time he'd turned and was giving the girl his full attention, smoke rings forgotten for the moment.

Shitora let out an irritated growl and stood up straight, placing her hands anxiously on her hips. "Well you act like I don't smoke, Inuyasha."

The boy blinked, cocking an eyebrow in her direction. "Do you?"

"YES!" she exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms akimbo. Sesshomaru glanced up from where he was still looking over papers and shook his head, taking another drag on his own cigarette; if his little brother really thought that, he was more naive than the leader had once figured.

"What! When did you start smoking!" Inuyasha asked, eyes widening wildly; by the looks of it, he really hadn't known anything about his sister's habit.

"Let's see, I was...14?" she replied saucily, switching her hips angrily to the side and crossing her arms.

Inuyasha lowered his eyebrows, turning away from his sister as he said, "Well, you still can't have one."

"Why the hell not?" she asked, outraged.

"Because I said so," came his stiff reply as he pretended not to notice her there behind him.

"GOD!" Shitora screamed, clenching her fists as a vein popped threateningly on her forehead. "You're almost as stubborn as Sesshomaru! ALMOST! But as we've all seen in the past week and a half, you're not quite there!" And with these words, Shitora turned her seething eyes to glare pointedly at her older brother, who pretended not to notice her ice cold stare.

"C'mon, Tora, they'll work it out," Kouga said peaceably, shrugging his naked shoulders as though there were nothing to worry about.

Ayame raised a quizzical eyebrow, turning to face her boyfriend. "Oh really? If he doesn't get a move on, they never will."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Inuyasha said easily. "Why doesn't she apologize? Why does Shomo gotta do it?"

All the girls within the immediate area turned slowly to face Inuyasha, fixing him with the coldest stares he'd ever received in his life. He swear his blood ran cold in that moment as they observed him so tightly, all of them looking ready to pounce for the kill. "Because he was wrong," Kagome replied slowly, as though speaking to a child.

Miroku jumped in on Inuyasha's behalf, saying, "Wait, wait, wait. Why does there have to be a big tearful apology? I still don't understand why they can't just compromise."

"Because," Sango interjected immediately, "What he said was wrong and hurtful and Rin didn't do anything. A compromise is when people meet halfway and there's no halfway on this situation. Rin and Sesshomaru can't be in a relationship if he thinks human women are that low!"

"Oh, c'mon," Ranbou interrupted, taking a drag on his cigarette and observing the others blithely. "That's not what he meant. He m-"

"There's nothing else he could've meant, Ranbou!" Shitora said hotly, fixing the boy with an angry glare. "What he said only means one thing and they can't go on like that. Okay?"

By this time, Sesshomaru had taken off his spectacles and was resting his chin in his palm, watching the goings on with an air of amusement. He seemed not to care that they were arguing about his faults and lack of his girlfriend, but appeared rather interested in their opinions. He watched them rally back and forth, as though he were spectating at a vigorous tennis match, eyes duller than usual; they'd been that way since Rin's departure one and a half weeks ago.

"No! You women always have to make this out to be the guy's fault!" Ranbou retorted, looking honestly outraged by this.

"Because it normally is," Shitora said with a small smirk, earning laughs from the other girls; it certainly seemed this way, didn't it?

"Well, what about Inuyasha's little tiff with Kikyo?" Miroku broke in, crossing his arms triumphantly. "Definitely not his fault."

Inuyasha grew rather red in the face and sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Hey Roku? If we could just not bring that up, that'd be awesome."

The girls continued in their laughter as the boys tried to figure out a way to regroup; it was getting progressively harder to think in this unbearable heat and, finally, Ranbou continued rather boredly, "Well, in any case, this is none of you girls' business anyway. Shomo and Rin'll figure it out for themselves."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, addressing the wolf demon frostily. "We left it to him for a week and a half; he's got to do something!"

"Maybe they just weren't meant to be," Miroku mused, taking a sip of his beer. Again, the girls pulled one of their simultaneous head turns, stunning the boy into silence. His violet eyes watched their every move as they all stood in unison, brushing themselves off before beginning to walk primly towards the door. It appeared as though they hadn't even conferred on this and just decided it was time to leave; the girls had agreed that, if the boys wouldn't see their way, they would simply go. And not come back until this was all resolved.

When the girls had finally reached the brink between the warehouse and the gravel lot outside, Inuyasha blinked his way into motion and called, "Hey, where ya goin?"

Kagome turned, addressing the boys with a look so cold their very organs froze in time. "We're going on strike until Sesshomaru apologizes to Rin. Until then, you can kiss your women GOODBYE!"

And with that, the girls hopped on their motorcycles and climbed in their cars, revving their engines ostentatiously before screeching obnoxiously out of the parking lot. The boys could only watch dumbly as the girls left and a pregnant silence followed their departure, which also left a rather large hole inside the warehouse. Inuyasha and Miroku exchanged glances, as did Kouga and Ranbou, before they all sighed and lit new cigarettes and/or popped the top on a new beer.

Shippo, who'd been observing the situation from afar, came waltzing over wiping his hands on a grease rag. "What was that all about?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow in the boys' direction.

Snorting, Inuyasha replied, "That, kid, was why you should never get involved with women. They ain't nothin but trouble."

"Eh, you're just bitter because we lost the argument," Kouga replied, smiling into his longneck beer lest the others notice his amusement.

"Besides," Miroku entered in, "they're in bad moods right now because of...woman things. We couldn't have won that argument if we were five star lawyers."

The others nodded wisely while Sesshomaru continued obliviously with his paperwork and Shippo cocked an eyebrow. "Woman things? You mean their periods?"

At the very word, most of the boys blushed a dark red color and looked away, embarrassed by the very thought of such a thing. While it appeared to the innocent bystander that Sesshomaru wasn't listening to a word being spoken, he answered Shippo's question without looking up from his work. "That's what they're referring to."

"Why are you guys blushing then? You can smell it and you know it exists," the boy reasoned, plopping down on the couch with a sense of ease akin to Kei.

"Well, yeah, but you don't run around talking about it," Inuyasha protested, amber eyes glittering and betraying his horror.

Shippo shrugged. "Whatever you say. All I can wonder is how much time they spend together during a day; for all of them to be on their period at the same time is like attack of the angry pheromones." When his comment was met with blank stares, Shippo continued, "Pheromones are chemicals in the female body that relate to other pheromones, causing some women to have their period at the same time when they're around each other a lot. All of them having their period at the same time is pretty intense."

"It happens a lot," Ranbou said, shrugging his shoulders. "We learn to deal with it."

"Since most women have their period every three and a half weeks on average, it _would _happen a lot," Shippo said with a nod, glancing at one of the beers on the table. "What does that taste like exactly?"

Kouga shrugged. "See for yourself."

"But I'm not of age," Shippo replied, furrowing his brow; surely the others knew that.

Miroku just gave a small smile. "Neither are we. We just drink anyway. We can't smoke either, but look at all of us now."

Shippo took a glance around the circle and realized that Miroku was right; everyone in the circle was between the ages of 17 and 18 and, lo and behold, all of them were doing something illegal at that exact moment. The boy glanced down at the beer bottle and shrugged, grasping it in his hand and taking a sip. He mulled over the taste, which was bitter, and raised his eyebrow. "That tastes like piss."

The others let out hoots of laughter as Inuyasha replied, "You get used to it, kid."

At this moment, Sesshomaru stood to his feet and removed his glasses, folding them neatly before walking leisurely towards the couches. The others watched him, surprised to see him showing an interest in them for the first time that day, and finally he took a seat beside Kouga, sighing deeply. "I'm going to apologize to Rin sometime this week. I'm just not sure when or how."

Silently, the other boys exchanged glances and tried to configure the correct words for the situation. Finally, Ranbou said, "I think 'Rin I'm sorry' would do fine, Shomo."

"No, she's gonna want more than that," Inuyasha disagreed, shaking his head. "He's gonna have to grovel and lick her shoes for this one."

"Which I refuse to do," Sesshomaru said bluntly, reclining dejectedly back in the chair. "This is an absolute pain in my ass."

There was a silence before Kouga spoke up in a rather quiet voice. "Is that all she is to you Shomo? Cause if your girlfriend is just 'a mortal woman' or 'a pain in your ass,' you need to rethink something."

The others were struck sober by this comment and ceased what they were doing immediately, be it drinking or smoking, to debate this fact. Each of them allowed their thoughts stray to that one special woman and they began to wonder; what exactly _were _these women to them? They couldn't be sure and only shook their heads, wishing the answer would come quicker. Truthfully, they felt quite guilty for not knowing right away.

"You know I don't think of her that way," Sesshomaru said simply, picking up a bottle from the table before taking a long swig. "Fights are a pain in your ass too, I'm sure."

Kouga snorted. "We don't fight, though. That's the thing."

Little Shippo, who hadn't contributed much to this older conversation, entered in curiously, "Aren't you fighting now?" When he was met with several blank stares, he continued, "I mean, she walked out with the other girls. Doesn't that mean your fighting?"

Blinking, Kouga seemed to debate this fact for a moment before he agreed casually, "Hm, you could be right." Upon realizing this, the other boys immediately grabbed more beers and began smoking just a little bit harder.

"You don't look very concerned," Sesshomaru noted dryly, cocking an eyebrow in his best friend's direction.

Kouga replied, chuckling, "Cause I know one fight won't ruin us. I trust her and she trusts me; that's all we need."

"You guys are sick, giving it up for girls like that. You'll all end up some heiress's corporate sell-out bitch," Ranbou said disdainfully, scrunching up his tan nose at the thought.

Inuyasha snorted at this comment, replying, "If that ain't the pot callin' the kettle black, I dunno what is." The others nodded their agreement, sending several sardonic smiles in Ranbou's direction.

Looking very confused by this insinuation, Ranbou furrowed his brow and muttered, "I dunno what the hell you're talkin' about..."

"Your relationship with my sister," Sesshomaru replied with a hint of a smirk on his lips. "Nobody knows exactly what's going on there."

The other boys snickered at the horrified look on Ranbou's face, bursting out into laughter when he couldn't even create a sentence with his garbled words. He spluttered slightly, tossing his hands about as though not knowing what to respond to this, and finally stuttered out, "Me and Sukini! You gaylords!"

"We're just sayin', Ran," Miroku said soothingly, unable to conceal a smile.

Growling, Ranbou stood abruptly to his feet and stormed over to the refrigerator, grabbing blindly for another beer; maybe the alcohol would wash away the sting of those painfully true words. If nothing else, it would at least make him forget he'd ever known Shitora Taisho. And that was enough, wasn't it?

Peer pressure is a strange thing to be sure. One minute you're minding your own business and the next minute you're doing drugs in your best friend's closet. Human beings hold on true power and that is the power to influence other human beings; useless, really, but this is how every single world leader came to power. Rin had the chance to experience this first hand as she blindly gave in to her friends' stupid insistence._ Rin, stop sulking in the garden, let's go out!_

Oh, how she hated them.

Staring herself irritably in the eye, Rin observed her reflection with a mild hint of disdain; the girls were in the middle of preparing her for a night on the town, poking and prodding her until she reached the proper level of whorish appeal. As Kagome finished doing Rin's eye make-up, she heard her cousin release a tired sigh.

"It'll be fun, Rin! A girl's night out is just what you need!" Kagome insisted, smiling encouragingly.

But Rin only nodded, mustering the biggest fake smile she could pull out at short notice. "Yeah."

In all reality, Rin wanted nothing more than to lie on her bed and cry. Sesshomaru was her everything, her heart, her soul. When they were apart for so long, on bad terms, she felt as though everything within her gave up the will to live. She didn't want to romp around, playing sluts and dodgers; she wanted to scream like a banshee, kick pillows, rip apart her stuffed animals and break every piece of glass in her bedroom. Then, if time permitted, she wanted to break down sobbing on the floor, unable to get up or even move for a number of hours, stricken with grief. Rin just wanted to wallow in her misery...but her friends wouldn't let her.

The other girls were dolled up in short mini skirts, high heels, and rather revealing shirts, doing their makeup in sultry, seductive shades. Deciding to at least look the part, Rin put on her tight corset dress, donning a pair of high heels and observing her reflection for the umpteenth time; if anything, she looked like a sick, sad little girl trying to appear healthy. It almost made her ill.

"Let's go, girls!" Shitora declared, flipping her hair in a ridiculous manner.

The others let out woops and hollers of appreciation while Rin just gave another weak smile; this was going to be a long night. The girls hurried down the stairs, practically dragging Rin along with them, before hurrying out her front door to pile in the convertible.

On the way out the door, Rin's butler Jeeves raised an eyebrow and asked, "Going out, misses?"

Kagome nodded for both of them, pushing Rin out the door with a wide grin on her face. "Yes, Jeeves, we'll be home late, don't wait up. Tonight, Rin is going to have lots of fun!"

Sighing and releasing a small smile, Jeeves replied, "Very good, miss." As he watched the girls squeal off into the night, he shook his head slowly and closed the door behind them; he knew Rin better than most, as he'd been employed by the family since before her birth, and he knew she was no mood for partying. If his memory served him, she only got this way when she and Sesshomaru were on the outs, which was very rarely. Normally, these bouts didn't last more than a few hours, but this one was longer than most. Hopefully they would resolve their differences. Jeeves doubted that Rin would ever recover if they didn't.

"Where do you guys wanna go?" asked Sango, who was driving at the moment.

Shitora piped up from the backseat, "How about the Lover's Lounge? Or Claww? The Cave is normally open at this time, too."

But Ayame only shook her head vigorously, shimmering red hair glittering back and forth. "No, those are all in Fang territory. We're not going anywhere that we could recognize someone, this is a night for cleansing, remember?"

The girls were silent as they tried to think of an alternative, but Sango took the initiative and took a left turn out of Fang territory at the next stoplight. "We'll just go somewhere random, how's that?"

The other girls shrugged and went back to talking girlishly, oblivious to Rin's discomfort. The girl leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes as the car ran smoothly across the pavement. Sango squinted her eyes, unable to make out the street sign before her; according to her memory, Southern territory ended it's western front at "Northcrest." The street sign looked as though it said "Northcrown" and she continued through it, soberly reminding herself to stay inside the safe zone. Unbeknownst to Sango, her eyes, unadjusted to the dark, had misread the sign; the girls were in Northern territory.

Eventually, Shitora was looking out the window when she spotted a club like place up ahead, shrouded in mist and glowing red with stage lights. "Hey, what about there?"

"Perfect," Sango said with a grin, pulling swiftly into the parking lot.

For once, the girls weren't wearing their Wildcats jackets and were therefore unrecognizable, for the most part. Rin couldn't help but feel slightly naked without her jacket, but she was almost to broken to care and just walked quietly amongst her friends as they neared the club entrance. Glancing up at the sign, the girls were able to make out the vague word "Scale" and they shrugged, walking boldly up to the bouncer.

"Hi, can we come in?" Kagome asked, quite confident with her friends behind her.

"You with the gangs?" the bouncer asked in return, arms crossed like a huge meat slab pretzel.

They all nodded because, of course, they were. The bouncer looked them up and down for a second before addressing the first boy in the line against the club wall, which was comprised mostly of wannabe gang members and lost teenagers. "You recognize these girls?"

The boy turned and observed the faces of each girl, finally remembering where he'd seen them. The boy's brother was a member of the Sharks and he knew quite well who these girls were. Grinning, he said, "Sure I do, they're with the gangs." He said no more than this, thinking this all might turn out in an interesting manner.

The bouncer gave a gruff nod, unhooking the velvet rope and allowing all five girls to enter, completely oblivious to the dangerous connotations around them. Rin was normally the one to notice bad situations, as she was their strong leader, but tonight her head was somewhere else entirely. As she walked inside, however, she glanced around and suddenly got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach; there were Dragon symbols everywhere. The roaring dragon covered the walls, the tables, even the drapes, and Rin could only stand there frozen as she wondered where Sango had taken them. _I had my eyes closed on the ride here...where are we?_

Deciding it was best to grab her friends and leave, Rin turned to address them but found, to her surprise, that they were already several feet ahead of her, walking boldly towards the bar. Rin let out a curse and hurried after her friends, trying to grab them before anything dangerous could happen, but she was already too late. The minute she reached the other girls, breaking through their little group and trying to pull them back, a gritty voice chuckled, "Well, well, well. Look who's come to join us tonight, boys."

The five girls turned quickly to observe the speaker, who was far too familiar for comfort. Kagome's breath caught in her throat and she stumbled backwards into Sango, who only held her shoulders tightly; it was Kagai.

One thing was for sure; Inuyasha's beating had done him damage. There were still stitches on his face, not to mention bruises just beginning to fade on his neck, but the rest of him was covered head to toe in black, complete with his Dragon's jacket. In that short time apart, he'd allowed his scruffy beard to further its despicable takeover of his chin and, lo and behold, the hair had commandeered the better part of his chin. Upon seeing his face, those coal black eyes boring holes into her very skull, Kagome shuddered and tried to hide her fear; tough girls didn't show cowardice in public.

Kagai offered the girls no cocky smile, nor did he present them with a confident chuckle, but he merely grunted and asked, "What do you girls want?"

"Absolutely nothing," Ayame said immediately, grabbing her friends and trying to make a beeline to the door, but several able bodied Dragons had already formed a strong ring around them; after what Inuyasha had done to one of their own, the gang wasn't about to let their enemies' girls escape unscathed.

Glaring around the circle of rough looking characters, Shitora let out her demon claws with that familiar "chink," eyebrows eerily low. "Let us through," she growled angrily, trying to muscle her way out of the circle without actually touching any of the men; for all she know, one second's touch might contract crabs.

Like Kagai, the other Dragons held somber expressions, arms crossed while others just observed the girls with rank disdain. A dangerously calm voice from Sango's left alerted every pair of ears within the club and, almost immediately, the music cut off with an abrupt click. "Not on your life, Taisho."

Ryuukoytsusei walked slowly through the parting crowd, numerous chains causing a multitude of ominous sounds as he strutted towards the girls. His emerald green hair was constrained in a loose ponytail, framing his bitterly contorted face and corvette red eyes. "After what your brother did to Kagai last week, we can't just let you walk out of here."

Sensing immediate danger with her keen wolf instincts, Ayame elongated her own claws at will, clenching her hands into fists lest their attackers notice her aggressive motion. No one seemed to hear the clinking of her claws above the racket of fierce words and heavy breathing; expression never wavering, the girl stared boldly out at the crowd. She and Shitora would protect their human friends whatever the cost.

"He got what he deserved," Shitora shouted back, amber eyes glittering hotly.

Shrugging in rather ambivalent way, Ryuu rested his elbow on one of his follower's shoulders before replying, "Who are you to decide that, Taisho?"

"Someone with half a brain! He started the fight and he couldn't finish it. We all know what that means in _this _world," came Shitora's swift answer; she made sure to reference the gang world, knowing no one could dispute her observation.

Ryuu narrowed his red eyes quietly, removing his elbow from his friend's shoulder and closing the gap between him and the girls slowly. Sango and Kagome, who were foremost, stared fearlessly up at him as he glared down at them, standing tall at 6'4. Before he could address the two humans, however, Shitora Taisho appeared before them, practically materializing before him with her demon speed.

Snorting, Ryuu crossed his thick arms and observed Shitora was an air of sarcastic amusement. "If you think your pathetic hanyou skills can best me, you're very wrong."

Glaring around the circle of stone faced gang members, slightly disturbed by the quiet, Rin wished someone would crack a sadistic smile or at least give a derisive snort. Normally, gang men liked to show how confident they were by throwing around cocky gestures or at least posturing a little. This whole situation was just...frightening.

"Oh yeah? So what do you think you're gonna do to us, huh?" Shitora practically challenged, staring fearlessly up at the Dragon demon, not seeming to care that his eyes held countless murders behind their calm depths.

The way Ryuu regarded Shitora was quite odd, even to those who knew him well; normally, the Dragon leader was a hard headed, loud mouthed psychopath with violent tendencies and a wicked tongue. Tonight, he appeared to be nothing but a stone faced shepherd prepared to defend his flock by force if necessary. The other gang members, unused to such a caring look, almost wanted to escape; they felt smothered by this strange, killer's-guilt affection. But no one dared move.

On the inner-most ring of the circle, Ryuu's second in command Juuroumaru watched the goings on with his quiet, calculative blue eyes. His oddly lavender hair was pulled behind him in a braid, trailing down his back like a poised viper. He had an odd air about him, as though he were above gang life and completely bored by the situation before him, yet he did host a certain interest in Ryuu's actions. If Juu, as he was called, was correct, Ryuu was interested by the hanyou girl standing boldly before him. The way he looked at her even now was unlike him; Juu was intrigued.

"Don't give me ideas, Taisho," Ryuu finally replied, voice frighteningly quiet.

"Why you," Shitora muttered through gritted fangs, easily tempted anger preparing to best her.

Kagome watched the events unfolding in slow motion, quick mind already dissecting the surroundings and people with a clever eye. If possible, she didn't want this night to come to blows and she would in fact do anything in her power to prevent her friends from getting hurt. She desperately delved back into her most precious memories, trying to think of one weak spot in this group. _Okay, think Kagome, they like to smoke, drink, gamble, screw around...wait, gamble, that's good. But what do I gamble with? I can't do anything but...the gun in the car...yes...that's it...THAT'S IT..._

"I have a bet for you," she suddenly said, placing a protective hand on Shitora's shoulder and immediately drawing Ryuu's attention.

Quirking an eyebrow, Ryuu leaned back and made the first slightly humorous comment of the night. "This should be interesting," he murmured, earning nods and a few dry chuckles from his gang members.

"If I can hit any given letter on the street sign outside, from a distance of forty feet, you let us go. If I can't, you let my friends go and do whatever you want with me."

There was a dead silence within the club as the Dragons exchanged confused glances, wondering exactly how drunk this girl must be, while the Wildcats grew instantly pale in the face. Shitora whirled on Kagome, eyes amazingly wide as she prepared to protest, but Ryuu asked calmly, "Hit it with what?"

Kagome faced Ryuu, her mouth set in a grim line. "A bullet."

A murmur ran through the club at this girl's audacity as Kagome's friends exchanged frightened glances and wondered what would become of her. The wager was risky; it bet Kagome's wellbeing on her pistol skills, which were, to their knowledge, nonexistent. What was she thinking? Did she have a clever plan to get them out of this mess? Yet she appeared to be completely intent on following through with this.

"Interesting," Ryuu murmured. "But how do we know you won't shoot one of us instead?"

"Because I give you my word," Kagome answered bravely.

But to this, Ryuu only shook his head and snorted. "A gang member's word isn't worth my shit, little girl. I've learned that the hard way."

Kagome smiled mysteriously, cocking one of her perfect eyebrows and crossing her own pale arms with a hint of attitude in her hips. "I'm not a gang member."

At these words, Rin couldn't help but feel a cold guilt enter her spine; here Kagome was, laying everything on the line when she wasn't even an honest to goodness Wildcat. While she was their friend and spent every day with them, she didn't have the jacket and was, by definition, just an outsider in their affairs. Rin knew Ryuu wouldn't agree to these arrangements if Inuyasha hadn't shown such dedication to Kagome during the race. By jumping Kagai and going insane, it was apparent to everyone that there was more than friendship there. If the Dragons could do whatever they wanted with Kagome, it might just ruin Inuyasha and, for that matter the Fangs. Ryuu was no fool; he knew opportunity when he saw it.

After observing her for a moment more, Ryuu finally said, "It's a deal, little girl. Let's see if you're as good a shot as you think you are."

The room gave a hearty cheer, Dragons pumping their fists in the air to show their appreciation for the agreement. This was obviously more entertaining than your normal night on the town and they were most pleased; the Wildcats' unexpected appearance had done them good after all.

Kagome and the girls turned towards the door, walking slowly towards it as the entire club followed at their backs. Shitora saddled up beside Kagome on their way out, leaning up and whispering violently in her ear, "Are you _insane?_!"

The taller girl just shook her head with that same mysterious smile, never removing her dead set gaze from the path before her. The group burst out into the muggy night air, many removing their jackets and slinging them over their shoulders; the summer still laid thick on the city, even in the darkness. The streets were conveniently deserted, as everyone knew not to enter Dragon territory without a pass or a death wish. Especially late at night, the North was by no means a friendly place to reside.

The mob gathered near the street signs, many climbing up on the roofs of the cars or clambering up on overturned boxes to witness this crazy woman's attempt to bargain for her life. Ryuu, Kagome, Rin and Juu met in the center of the street, an eye's rough estimation of forty feet from the intersection, and Kagome stared up at the sign with a determined glint in her eyes. The crossing was "Spindle" and "Morticah," the letters of which were the same height and roughly the same width. Hitting any of them would be a difficult feat, but Kagome didn't care; she could do it.

"So where's this gun of yours?" Ryuu asked dully, observing Kagome out of the corner of his eye.

Smirking, Kagome said, "Rin, I need your car keys. Feel free to have someone escort me if you want."

Rin's face grew deathly white and she stumbled backwards slightly, wondering how Kagome knew about her pistol; the girl kept it there for emergencies, as running around in this town without protection was just plain stupid. She thought guns might scare Kagome, but obviously there were many things she didn't know about her cousin. Dumbly, the Wildcats leader reached into her shirt and withdrew her keys, handing them silently to Kagome, who began a slow walk towards the convertible with Juu following lazily at her side.

As Kagome unlocked the doors and reached beneath the seat, Juu said casually, "You know this is madness, what you're proposing."

The girl chuckled, enclosing her hand around the smooth metal of the gun barrel and pulling it out from underneath the seat. She merely followed the pointer's straight line with her eyes, cocking the release before returning her gaze to the lavender haired Dragon. "You just watch."

The pair returned to Ryuu and Rin, who were standing rather awkwardly near each other, quite uncomfortable in the presence of the other. Kagome stopped slowly at the forty foot mark, turning to stare pointedly at the street sign. "Pick your letter."

Ryuu didn't even gaze up at the sign, replying almost amusedly, "The 'i' in Morticah."

The Morticah sign, which was directly facing Kagome, loomed down upon her as she observed the sign with an air of the killer observing its prey; it was suspended on the stop light bar, a great unattainable god. Sango closed her eyes, wondering if she would ever see Kagome's smiling face after this night; if her friend didn't succeed in this feat, it might be the last anyone would see of her. Ayame and Shitora both watched tight lipped as Kagome raised the gun, pointing it directly at the street sign. It surprised everyone in the crowd how natural the girl appeared holding that dangerous weapon in her beautiful hands; she looked positively at ease.

Rin held her breath as Kagome squinted one eye, staring down the barrel of the gun as though she would never see another living being beyond that point. In that moment, there was no crowd, no Ryuu, no girls, no buildings, just Kagome and that "i," facing each other down while knowing the other would never back down. Finally, Kagome had the shot perfectly aligned and she gave a brief prayer to the gods, hoping her training wouldn't fail her.

"Bang," she whispered, breath catching in her throat as she pulled the trigger.

A deadening shot rang out across the streets, though no one jumped or uttered a single sound as it echoed off the graffitied brick and concrete. The sound was followed by a metallic ring, though no one could be sure what the sound signified. Rin opened her eyes, staring numbly up at the sign; by the street light, she saw no hole in the "i" and she felt the breath escape her lungs in a whoosh. She would never see her cousin again.

Yet Kagome simply lowered the gun and turned to Ryuu. "Hold up your end of the bet."

The Dragon narrowed his eyes, turning his sights to the street sign as though observing it for the very first time. The gang leader walked slowly towards it, confusing the other gang members into a frenzy of whispers and furrowed brows. Green hair undulating back and forth, he continued until he was directly in front of the stop light, which had consequently just turned green.

Ryuu was still for a moment before he surprised the crowd by taking a mighty leap of the ground, though it appeared quite effortless for him. He hung from the top of the street sign by one hand, not seeming to care as the edge of it dug into his palm; no, he was far too preoccupied staring at the impossible feat before him. After a minute of complete and utter motionlessness, he clambered up until he was balancing deftly on the stop light bar, reaching his hand behind the sign and sticking one clawed finger through a perfectly round hole above the "i."

Kagome's bullet had gone precisely through the dot.

At the sight of Ryuu's finger poking through the hole, the other Dragons let out manly gasps and several shouts of surprised outrage. The Wildcats began squealing with excitement at Kagome's victory while Shitora, the only Fang present, sighed deeply in relief; she'd been positive that was the end of Kagome.

Ryuu landed softly on the pavement, walking calmly towards Kagome and the others. Without even stopping to acknowledge them, he said blankly, "You may go."

Without another word, the girls began hurrying towards the convertible, eager to get away from this dangerous crowd. As they ran, Shitora came up in the back of the group and gave Kagome a tomboyish noogie, grinning maniacally. "Nice going, Kags!"

Kagai, who'd been watching silently from the side lines, closed his eyes briefly as the girls escaped from his clutches. One of his friends put a pacifying hand on his shoulder, saying pleadingly, "C'mon, Kagai. Let's go back inside."

Yet Kagai, suddenly enraged by the night's unpredictable turn of events, threw off his friend's hand and slammed his beer bottle angrily down on the pavement, releasing a feral growl. He watched as the glass exploded on the concrete, scattering this way and that in both small and large pieces; it was only the beginning of his perversities. Without another thought, Kagai reached down and retrieved a frighteningly large piece of glass; it was almost an entire half of the lower bottle, somehow preserved from the crash. The Dragon used his demon strength to hurl the glass blindly after the girls, screaming angrily as he did so; he wouldn't let them go completely unharmed.

The girls were still hurrying towards the car when both Ayame and Shitora caught a faint sense of danger behind them. Shitora managed to glance back at the scene behind her, completely helpless as the glass weapon came hurtling towards them, directed at Rin and Kagome's unprotected backs. The hanyou didn't even spare herself a thought as she placed her body between her friends and the glass, gasping as the sharp piece embedded itself in the right side of her lower back. With Kagai's wrathful demon strength behind it, the broken bottle was a veritable glass bullet in her flesh and she knew it immediately; she'd done something stupid again.

Shitora's friends all let out screams of surprise, catching Shitora and turning to look back at the Dragons. Most of them had already disappeared inside, but Kagai and his friends remained; Kagai looked quite pleased with himself and he shot the girls a nasty hand gesture before turning to disappear inside the club. To his surprise, Ryuu came walking calmly out of the entrance, obviously having witnessed the entire event; the Dragon leader grabbed Kagai around the throat, tossing him rather carelessly against the brick wall, never sparing him a glance.

"My word is absolute," he said quietly, not allowing himself to look anywhere but straight ahead.

If he looked at the Wildcats, he might just see Shitora bleeding at the Dragons expense and he wouldn't bare that weight.

Sango barred her teeth angrily and shouted, "You mother fucking bastard, I'll rip your fucking dick off, I-"

But a hand's sudden latch on her shirt broke Sango's sentence and she stared bewilderedly down at Shitora, who was gasping out between breaths, "Get in the car now!"

The girls hurriedly piled in the convertible, Shitora practically falling down into the passenger's seat, as Rin gunned the engine and planted her foot on the gas pedal; they had a long night ahead of them.

Ryuu watched the car squeal off into the distance, feeling several strange feelings simultaneously. Juu walked calmly up beside his leader, quirking one lavender eyebrow at his commander. "That wasn't defensive, was it?"

Finally escaped from his ulterior persona, Ryuu shook his green head furiously, staring at Juu with burning crimson eyes. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

Ignoring his leader's practically murderous glance, Juu just smiled and placed his hands in his pockets. "Not that I blame you. Someone once said, 'forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful they do not excite desire.' Just make sure your forbidden fruit doesn't come back to poison your guts, leader."

Juu disappeared inside the club before Ryuu could say a word in protest, though the Dragon leader had little to say in return. What about that Taisho girl made him feel so strange inside? The way she stood up to him so fearlessly, prevented him from attacking her friends even at the cost of her well being. Certainly, he hadn't taken her up on their unspoken challenge, but was she really his forbidden pleasure, his indulgence? Certainly she was pretty, but was it more than that? _Of course not, _he scoffed, _you've never even met her before tonight, get a hold of your bloody hormones Ryuu. Besides, she's a bloody half demon; what the hell would you do with her?_

Yet there was more to this encounter than Ryuu realized...and it would haunt him horribly in days to come.

**Okay guys, whew! Finally done with that one. I was dreading writing that scene with the trigger pull, but I think it was okay. Thanks for your faithful reviews and thanks for the newly assembled Writing Panel!**

**KOLU**


	16. The Assassination

**Thanks guys for your immediate and positive feedback on the last chapter! I have exciting news: the story has broken 100,000 words! That's what I get for writing long chapters, I suppose; I mean, we did it in 15. Thats...ridiculous. Lol. Have fun with this one, quite a bit of fluff.**

"That was..." Rin murmured from her position at the wheel, shaking her head slowly and trying to find the words.

"Fucking loony, let's never do it again," Shitora quipped tightly, twisting around in her seat to observe the glass lodged in her back. Truly, she couldn't remembering doing something so stupid since she got back from boarding school, where quite a bit of stupidity went on. The problem here was that she attempted to stop said stupidity, but couldn't quite get there in time. And now she had a beer bottle in her back.

Kagome peered over the front seat, trying to make out the damage done to her friend's body. "Are you okay?"

This only provoked a snort from Shitora, who replied, "Just a beer bottle lodged in my flesh, nothing to worry about."

Sango, deciding to settle an uprising before it began, said calmly, "We need to get her treatment; where do we go?"

"How about the hopsital?" Kagome asked, cocking one smooth eyebrow; it seemed perfectly logical to her that, in times of medical trouble, people went to the emergency room.

But Ayame shook her head. "We don't make it a habit to go there; it raises questions and that brings in police, okay?"

Sighing, Kagome sat back against her seat. The way the gang did whatever the could to fend off the police amazed her, even to the extent that it baffled her. Despite their desire to avoid the law, Kagome was almost insulted that they wouldn't spare a moment's time in the hopsital for a hurting friend. Sango could obviously since her distress over the matter for she leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry; everyone knows what they signed up for."

The words were scant, cryptic, and even a bit vague, but Kagome somehow knew what her friends meant; everyone in the gangs knew that, unless they were on the brink of death, hospitals were not an option.

"What about Kei and Nan?" Ayame offered, shrugging her shoulders.

This time, it was Shitora who objected. "No, they'll bitch us out and then tell Sesshomaru. That's a disaster waiting to happen. No, we just need to get this piece of shit out of my back and put some disinfectant on it. I'll be fine."

"Does anyone have bandages that big? Disinfectant? Tweezers?" Rin asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. When the others shook their heads, Rin sighed and glanced at the clock; 12:37. "Well, we can get it at the warehouse. The boys ought to be gone by now."

This said, Rin took a decisive right turn at the next stop light; the Wildcats leader was back in action.

The convertible pulled up on the warehouse gravel parking lot five minutes later, coming to a stop as Rin shut off the lights and killed the engine. Shitora managed to get out of the car, though when she took her first steps, she cried out in pain and fell flat on her face. The other girls hurried to her side, dragging her upright and urgently looking down at her back; with every step she took, Shitora lodged the beer bottle deeper.

Without a word, Sango hefted the girl onto her back and resettled her, nodding at Shitora's whispered thank you. The girls treked across the gravel and arrived at the door, which Rin quickly opened with her leader's key. Inside, the lights were off and the only sound was that of gently humming machinery. From the moonlight through the aviator's windows above the hangar door, the group was able to make out shapes as they glided skillfully around them, vailliantly trying not to muss a thing.

"Ugh, it's creepy in here at night," Kagome said, scrunching up her nose.

"And I think I just stepped in grease," Rin agreed, snorting as she almost lost her balance on one grease covered high heel.

"Rin turn on a light or something," Ayame said irritably as she almost impaled herself on a tool table, keen demon eyes still unused to the clutter.

Immediately, the lights flashed on and Kagome brushed herself off; she'd just run into the dusty door of Jakotsu's old pick-up truck. "Thanks Rin."

"Um..." Rin murmured, drawing the others' attention; she was in the middle of the warehouse floor, several feet from every wall. "That wasn't me."

"No. It was me."

The girls whirled violently around, breath catching in their throats as Sesshomaru stepped grimly forward, flanked by the other boys. The Wildcats cursed under their breath while Shitora slid quietly down from Sango's back, masking her pain with a practiced sneer. The boys looked fit to be tied, every single face tight and drawn. Inuyasha's eyebrows were dangerously low on his face while Miroku looked more frightened for the girls' well being than anything. Kouga and Ranbou held similar expressions of condemnation, which rode heavy in the ice blue eyes, causing Ayame and Shitora to look away from the scrutiny.

"Where the hell were you?" Inuyasha finally demanded, amber eyes coursing with rage and fear.

"We just went out, if it's any of your business," Kagome rocketed back, narrowing her eyes and popping her hip to the side.

"Actually, it is our business," Sesshomaru entered in with a cold stare.

His involvement in this only set Rin off and she took several bold steps forward, high heels clicking eerily on the concrete floors. "Oh yeah? Why do you care what 'simple human' women do?" she yelled, throwing Sesshomaru's cruel words back in his face.

The dog demon flinched visibly, looking away from his girlfriend in a startling display of weakness; he couldn't bare to meet those hateful eyes. In that moment, Rin appeared to genuinely despise him and he just couldn't take it.

"Fuck, the fact that most of you are human has nothing to do with it!" Inuyasha exploded, throwing his arms out to the side wildly. "Human women, demon women, it doesn't matter! You're _our _women and we don't want your hurt! You don't seem to understand what's going on; with this shit about Salter going down, it's dangerous for you all to be out there without one of us, not answering your cell phones without anyone else knowing where you went! Don't you fucking get it!"

Following his tirade, Inuyasha clenched his skull with both hands and turned violently away, apparently unable to stay still a minute longer. The girls couldn't bring themselves to utter lame protests like 'we can take of ourselves' and 'don't treat us like children.' Obviously, they couldn't take care of themselves; Shitora winced as she shifted her wait unconciously, the beer bottle digging deeply into her back; she just wanted to get the damn thing out, but she dare not show her back to the boys. Hopefully they wouldn't notice.

As if to spite her, Sesshomaru suddenly wrinkled his nose and asked, "Who's bleeding?"

The girls froze, not even daring to exchange glances; if the boys found out about Shitora's injuries, their fun would be permanently over for the next century. Unforunately for them, Ranbou was already beginning to identify that smell; the carnal sent of blood with a hint of cinnamon. In one quick motion, he took a step forward and whirled Shitora around, dropping his hand at the sight of her back; the other boys gasped and turned deathly pale. In the commotion they'd barely even noticed the scent of blood.

"Who the fuck did this?" Ranbou growled angrily, staring Shitora straight in the eyes; the beer bottle protruded in an ugly display from her back, blood dripping down her pale skin in thin rivulets.

The girl opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to configure her words in a coherent sentence. "I...th...wait, Bo..."

"WHO!" he roared, voice echoing off the rafters eerily.

"Shitora!" Sesshomaru said forcefully, joined by Inuyasha as they hurried to her side; they obviously wanted to know the perpetrator's name for their own purposes.

"Just some Dragons, okay? I didn't know them," Shitora lied, words rolling off her tongue easily. She knew that her brothers and Ranbou would do something rash if they knew names and, for her own sanity, she decided to keep them to herself. Besides that, Kagai would die eventually; she had a score to settle with him herself.

The others were silent as they watched the exchange, wondering what the three boys would decide. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru knew they'd get no more out of her that night and merely sighed, rubbing the backs of their necks. Ranbou, however, still looked fit to be tied. "I'll fucking murder them!"

His eyes began to glow a dangerous crimson and Shitora immediately placed her hands on his closed fists. "Bo, stop, I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

The wolf stared at her through enraged blue eyes, following the path of that smile as it spread across her lips. There was her confidence, her sencerity, her brave facades, and all of them were false; he could see uncertainty shining through that smile and he wanted to know who'd put it there.

"Aya, I'm taking you home," Kouga said suddenly, brilliant smiling completely gone as he placed a protective arm around Ayame's waist and began literally dragging her towards the entrance. In her stupor, Ayame had neither the will nor the means by which to retaliate and only followed dumbly, exiting the warehouse with her boyfriend.

"Same goes for you Kagome, let's go," Inuyasha said forcefully, withdrawing his car keys from his jean pocket. Normally, Kagome would've been angered by the way he called her, as though she were his property, but the thought of being with Inuyasha seemed comforting and safe at the moment; she would rather be safe than belligerent.

On the way out the door, Inuyasha placed his hand on the small of Kagome's back and his very touch dissolved her insecurities. Sighing contentedly, she exited the warehouse and welcomed the clean night air.

Inside, the others were frozen in their own sort of social blizzard before Ranbou said stiffly, "Sukini, come on, let's get that taken care of." Desperate to be away from her brother's searching stare, Shitora followed without question at Ranbou's heels.

"Sango? Do you want to go home?" Miroku asked courteously, less aggressive than Kouga and Inuyasha had been.

But Sango shook her head. "I want to stay with Shitora."

"Sango, go home," Shitora interrupted, shaking her head slowly. "I...I'd rather you got some sleep than watch me..when I'm..." the girl looked away from her friend, blushing a slight crimson. It was then that Sango remembered just how much Shitora despised weakness and, smiling to herself, the dark haired girl turned to Miroku and jerked her head towards the door. Miroku nodded as well and, soon, the two were gone.

This left Rin and Sesshomaru, staring blankly at each other while wondering what the other could be thinking; Finally, unable to deal with the silence any longer, Rin let out a stream of air and turned on her heels, hurrying towards the door; the atmosphere was much to thick inside the warehouse. Part of her wondered if Sesshomaru would come charging after her, but she made it all the way out of the warehouse without the reassuring sound of footsteps behind her. She paused slightly, staring up at the dark skies; and here she was thinking he cared.

Rin was almost to her car when a voice called, "Wait."

The girl turned so quickly that she nearly dislocated her neck and she observed Sesshomaru with wide brown eyes; he was so handsome, it made it hard to stay mad at him for long. Yet his cruel words resounded in her head for the umpteenth time that week. She was a human woman. Nothing but trouble.

Taking a deep breath, Sesshomaru closed the gap between them slowly but surely, looking for all the world as if he were walking easily down the street. "I owe you an apology."

Rin wanted to say something clever, to quip back with a short one liner and drive off triumphantly in her convertible, but that loving part of her just couldn't move from where she stood. When she said nothing, Sesshomaru continued. "We've been going out for three years, four months and sixteen days. You know me better than anyone in this world, I suppose. And knowing that, you know that I'm stupid and judgemental when angry. I say things I don't mean because I can't control my temper...and I didn't mean what I said to you. Rin, if you were a 'simple human woman,' I wouldn't love you the way I do."

There was nothing but complete and utter silence for a moment as Rin digested everything he'd said. An erratic trembling began at her knees, moving up to her fists and eventually capturing her lips. How dare he say such beautiful things to her; she'd been so mad for a week and a half and his voice just kneeded the knots right out of her shoulders.

"Shut up," she said brokenly, voice unsteady and tears collecting in her eyes. "Don't say things like that! You make me want to forgive you!"

Sesshomaru's face actually held a hint of a smile as he took two more steps forward, inhaling the smooth flowery scent of his one true love. In one steady motion, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, never releasing his hold even when she reached up her closed fists and began pounding uselessly at his chest. When she finally realized she was beaten, Rin collapsed in belated sobs, crying out the pain she'd been feeling for the past week and a half. Soon, she was returning his embrace, crying hysterically into his chest as Sesshomaru glanced down at the beautiful woman in his arms. It was strange to think he'd almost thrown away the most perfect girl in the world, all for pride.

"Please forgive me," he murmured into her hair, closing his eyes and allowing her scent to flood his nostrils.

Still racked with sobs, Rin could only choke out, "I already have," before grabbing handfuls of his shirt in her fists and pulling herself even closer, feeling as though she could never pull away.

Inside, Shitora was laying face down on the lounge table, resting her head on her folded arms. She watched Ranbou wash his hands in the sink, trailing the line of his strong muscles with her eyes; he was so strong, the very thought of his power made her shudder with delight. Shitora had always been attracted to power. Finally, Ranbou turned around and observed the girl's back with a slight pain in his eyes. It was one thing to speak of the injury, but actually touching it was quite another. It was a general consensus that the bottle needed to go, but how exactly was he going to do it?

"Just pull it," Shitora said bravely, as though she could read his thoughts.

Ranbou was quiet for a moment before he glanced down at a leather band tied around his wrist. Deftly, he undid the knot and handed the leather to Shitora, saying dully, "Bite this."

The girl nodded slightly, eyes never wavering as she bit down on the leather, inhaling Ranbou's scent from the cloth; it calmed her jittery nerves. Ranbou glanced down once more at the glass in Shitora's back, shaking his head slightly before he reached down and took a hold of it. He was hesitant to hurt her, but leaving it there would be worse, wouldn't it? With this thought egging him on, Ranbou gave a quick, sharp pull, wincing as the bottle escaped the flesh with a squeltch. Shitora gasped, digging her teeth deeper into the leather; that moment was pure agony as she waited for the pain to fade.

"Look at this," Ranbou said, marveling quietly as he showed Shitora the bottle piece; it was covered in a good inch by blood. "That's how deep it was."

Gulping, Shitora closed her eyes and said, "Damn the Dragons," before burying her head in her arms; it still hurt something fierce.

Though the wofl planned to discard the glass at first, he got the sudden urge to keep in and placed it quickly in his pocket with Shitora's notice. Afterwards, Ranbou reached into the first aid kit and removed a can of disinfectant spray. "Bite down on that thing again."

Without another word of warning, the wolf demon sprayed a thin layer of disinfectant over the wound and it's surrounding area, trying to ignore the sounds of pain issuing from Shitora's tight mouth. Finally, the boy set the can aside and grabbed for bandages. "The worst is over."

Nodding slightly, Shitora glanced up from her arms, eyes red from tears; she wasn't crying from fear so much as she was from pain. The strongest men could cry tears of pain, slipping from their eyes unbidden. Shitora was nor different and Ranbou didn't blame her for her weakness. "We didn't mean to seem accusing tonight," the Reikon leader said suddenly as he smoothed a dry gauze pad across the wound. "We were just worried."

This was hardly something Ranbou would say under normal circumstances, but Shitora knew it was just his sense of obligation trying to make up for the boys and their overprotective tendencies. "We know," Shitora said quietly, managing a weak smile. "You know, we didn't even mean to go to the place we did. We just wanted to take Rin somewhere she could forget about her fight with Sesshomaru."

"I had a feeling it was something like that," Ranbou said as he matted the gauze down with medical tape. "You girls don't just run off partyin' for no reason."

"Yeah, partying can be kind of gay sometimes," Shitora said, chuckling a bit. "I'd rather just stay home or work on cars."

It was Ranbou's turn to chukle as he said, "Well, I hate to break it to you Sukini, but you're not really like most girls."

"So I've realized," Shitora joked in return, smile bringing a sparkle to her amber eyes; Ranbou had truly missed that sparkle. The white haired girl sat up, stretching her arms stiffly and cracking her neck. This was a night she'd rather forget, if it were possible.

At this point, Sesshomaru and Rin reentered the warehouse, this time holding hands as they walked purposefully towards the lounge area. Ranbou and Shitora exchanged smirks, knowing the apology and official relationship reparation was complete; now the gangs could rest at ease, if only for a little while. Furrowing her brow slightly, Rin asked, "Shitora, are you okay and everything?"

The hanyou smirked, winking one broad eye in her friend's direction. "Of course, Bo fixed me right up. It was nothing."

"She'll be fine," Ranbou agreed, nodding his head firmly. "She's tougher n'some piece of shit Dragon an' his beer."

Smiling in that reserved way of his, Sesshomaru broke hands with Rin and walked directly up to his sister, ruffling her hand fondly. "She's a Fang after all."

Shitora giggled, swatting away her brother's hand. "A course. I'm good as new."

All the same, Sesshomaru helped her down from the table after thanking Ranbou, preparing to lead her towards the exit to his car. Leaning down, he gave Rin a loving kiss on the lips before saying goodnights and ushering his sister out of the warehouse, Rin and Ranbou watching their retreating backs. Finally, Ranbou sighed and cracked his back, yawning. "Let's go home, Rin. I'm tired as all shit."

Rin chuckled. "Me too. See you in the morning, Ran."

"Yeah, see you."

That night, Rin retreated home to her bed, never giving Ranbou's dismissive farewell a second thought. Ranbou however, stood outside the warehouse for a moment more than necessary, appearing as though he were prepping his motorcycle as Rin drove away in her covertible. As soon as she rounded the corner, however, Ranbou paused in his habitual motions, sighing and glancing up at the moon; it was new tonight and seemed to laugh down at the entire city of Tokyo. Snorting, Ranbou decided not to give the moon his attention after all.

Withdrawing his cell phone from his pocket, the boy dialed a quick number and listened to the ring as it sounded once, twice, three times. Someone picked up finally, answering in a bleary tone. "Hello?"

"Hak, it's Ran. Get the elite force together and meet me at the Western border of the territory. We got a job to do," Ranbou said grimly.

Recovering from his sleepy state, Hakkaku replied strongly, "Done."

The two hung up the phone simultaneously, Hakkaku hurrying to gather the elite Reikon assassins while Ranbou withdrew a box of cigarettes from his pocket. Lighting one boredly, he took a drag and glance across the cityscape towards the Western border; the wolf was no fool. A quick inspection and scent analysis of that glass proved his theories true. He knew Kagai was the culprit for, before launching the bottle at Shitora, he'd put his hand all over that beer botle. Tonight, Kagai would get his.

Kagai walked slowly down the sidewalk of a distant street, smoking a cigarette and slumping leisurely along. He couldn't truly say his actions had done him any good, for his mouth was still dry in the absence of something filling. He'd been searching for that missing piece for weeks now, but he could never seem to grasp it, an unattainable feat somewhere in the enigma of time and space.

Shaking his shaggy head tiredly, Kagai winced as pain shot down his spine; Inuyasha's beating still weighed heavy on his shoulders. Kagai wasn't considered a particularly strong member of the Dragons, but he was quicker than Dragons tended to get, not to mention more clever. Ryuukoytsusei never showered him with praise as he did Juu, or even the racers. Kagai was just one of the underlings, a common thug in the underworld of street racing and drug peddling. During several Dragon assassinations, he was used as a runner between groups, due to his incredible speed. That was all he was good for, though. A little messenger boy amongst the gods.

Truthfully, Kagai didn't harbor any hatred for Shitora or the other girls, not even Kagome. He didn't tend to hate women, as he thought it rather improper; Kagai was a by-the-book sexist who believed women couldn't control half the things they did. What use was it hating someone who couldn't control their actions? It was like yelling at someone with tourettes when they shouted out; it was pointless and just aggrivated the both of you. The boy just wanted somewhere to focus his rage, his hate, and tonight the girls were in his wrathful path. He'd thrown that beer bottle in a white hot anger, not really knowing where it might go. He simply threw it in their direction and, lo and behold, it struck Shitora in the back. Kagai had really wanted it to connect with a human, but what did it matter now? The damage was done. And he didn't feel any better for it.

A sudden shift in the wind caused Kagai to glance up; he could sense several presences surrounding him now, cornering him on all sides, and he began glancing wildly around. Where were they? He couldn't see a single person but himself and, as was natural, he followed his first instinct and went running into the nearest off street, hoping to escape his attackers with his speed.

Unfortunately for Kagai, the Reikon elite assassination force, or REAF, was faster than he could ever hope to be. Only when Kagai glanced over his shoulder did he lose sight of his path and, miraculously, he ran into the rock hard wall of Ranbou Ookami's fist just when he wasn't looking.

Sniveling with fear, Kagai wiped a scruffy arm across his chin, trying to ignore the blood spilling from his now busted lip. "Whadya want!" he asked rudely, spitting out blood and saliva on the pavement.

Ranbou snorted, leaning down to level condescendingly with Kagai. "I want your head."

"What! Wait, w-"

But before Kagai could even issue another protest, his jugular vein was severed by a set of sharp claws and his voice box was forcefully ripped from his throat. Ranbou stared coldly down at the damage he'd done, throwing the bodily organs to the side and lifting his claws to observe the blood in the moonlight. "I hate beggers," he murmured, turning to glance over his shoulder at the rest of his elite force.

Hakkaku and Ginta, who were among the foremost of the six, nodded curtly, never daring to smile during a job. Turning to the others, Ginta gave a swift nod and moved to the side, allowing the four hunters behind him to move forward. "Here are the guys who squealed on him," he announced disdainfully, watching as two thin faced Dragons were thrown forward, twitching in fear and whimpering pitifully under the scrutiny of the elite.

Ranbou squatted down to level with them, gesturing with his bloody claws as he spoke. "So you gave us location information on this bastard over here? That was mighty thoughtful of you."

The two Dragons nodded furiously, eyes glittering with terror as they observed Ranbou Ookmai, a veritable angel of death when on the job. Everyone knew that, despite his joking facade, he could turn cold hearted killer in the blink of an eye. The only righteous part of his murders lay in the plot behind them; he never killed for himself and only for the betterment of the South and their peaceful lives there. In this night's case, he was killing to avenge the wrongs done to the girls and, mostly, Shitora. And he wasn't quite done with the Dragons yet.

Straightening back up, Ranbou gave a swift nod to Hakkaku and Ginta, who stepped forward and raised their magnificent wolf claws. Without warning, they both descended upon the Dragon prisoners, cutting their miserable throats in one fell swoop. Hakkaku snorted as he observed the terrified face of his victim, contorted with fear and frozen in his final moments.

"He couldn't even _die _with dignity," the wolf muttered, wiping off his claws on a piece of cloth inside his jacket.

"You four," Ranbou said, addressing the remaining four elite assassins. "Drop these three off on the Dragon's doorstep. You know how to mark em."

The fighters gave curt nods, gathering up the bodies and hurrying off to do their job. Ranbou and his two officers watched the force retreat with the bodies, flying atop the rooves to avoid interference from the outside world. This was gang business and gang business alone; as the maffia often declared, the Reikons were going to keep their jobs inside the family.

"Good work you two. Go home and get some rest," Ranbou said, clapping Ginta and Hakkaku on the shoulders in a brotherly gesture.

The two nodded, watching Ranbou as he shoved his hands in his pockets, returning to the street and turning the corner casually. One moment, he was a cold blooded killer with the eyes of an unstoppable death angel, the next he was a regular man, walking down the street amongst civilians with a wistful look on his face. Ginta and Hakkaku weren't completely oblivious; they knew tonight's job had been rather personal to their leader. They didn't know the full details, but they didn't need to; any of the Reikons would step up for Ranbou in his time of need for, certainly, he stepped up for every one of them. The elite force didn't question their leader's judgement and simply charged ahead, killing whoever needed to be killed. Perhaps it wasn't their place, but they didn't bother wondering. It only interferred with their job.

And the Reikons always did their job, no matter who or what stood in their way.

Sango had always held a gift for knowing when the air was wrong; it wasn't necessarily demonic, for the smell or the state didn't alert her, but she was just rather astute. The morning after her escapades in Dragon territory, she awoke to rather strange feeling air. As she put on her clothes and grabbed her Wildcats jacket, she wondered what could've gone down after her head hit the pillow. Sometimes it was best not knowing.

Outside, the skies were overcast and gloomy, threatening to release a torrent of water upon the city. Sango's car ride to the warehouse was quick and surreal as she watched the clouds thickening, casting a greyish pallor across Tokyo's pavement and rooftops; the gangs weren't particularly fond of rain, for it made lousy bike riding weather, though Sango rather liked it. When she arrived at the warehouse, it was just nearing nine o'clock and she was the first female as always. Killing the engine, she hurried inside just as the sky began to send down speckles of rainwater upon the concrete.

Inside, the boys were all present and accounted for, working casually away on their cars while Sesshomaru took care of his usual amount of paperwork in the back. The girl nodded to Miroku as she walked by, sparing him a smile as she went to set her things in the back. The only out of place activity lay in the lounge area, where Ranbou was leaning boredly against the wall drinking a beer whilst Kouga spit righteous fury at him. Sango cocked an eyebrow and watched them for a moment, hesitantly placing her purse on the couch as she caught a snippet of their conversation.

"...and to throw assassinations around is just gay. You've never been caught, Bo, but I swear to fucking god it won't be long with the way you stab anyone who pisses you off! That's not the way the real world works, out there you'll get caught by a little someone called the police or some crooked special forces dipshit. So how about next time you wanna kill someone, you punch me instead cause I'm tired of you acting like a god damn god!"

With that, Kouga turned on his heels and stormed away, ponytail swishing madly back and forth in his ire. Ranbou remained where he was for a moment before pushing off the wall, seeming not to care about his brother's trepidations in the least. On the contrary he simply glanced down at his empty beer bottle and walked towards the refrigerator for another.

Sango walked calmly to the sink where she began to wash her hands, not wanting to get anything foreign inside the machines. Without even looknig at Ranbou, she asked, "Did you make it slow?"

The boy cast a look in Sango's direction; the girl was no fool and obviously knew that, the previous night, a murder had been commited in honor of the girls. Kagai couldn't hide forever, and he'd obviously been found.

Ranbou closed his eyes momentarily, savoring the flavor of the beer. "Didn't have much time for that. But it was painful."

"Good," Sango said simply, wiping her hands on a towel before strutting primly in the direction of Jakotsu' pick up truck; today would be the day she could finally conquer that impossible car.

Smiling at Sango's retreating back, Ranbou walked leisurely towards the table where Sesshomaru was poring over paperwork, which he had to do but considered completely pointless. As the Reikon leader took a seat across from him, the dog demon calculated a percentage quickly before glancing up at his friend, peering over his glasses.

"Yes?"

"How's your sister?" Ranbou asked, taking a sip of his beer without looking away from Sesshomaru.

Sighing, the Fang leader removed his glasses and folded them neatly on the table, leaning back in his chair. "She insisted on coming in today, not to mention insisted on driving herself, so I'd say she's doing fair. Of course we both know Shitora would insist on those things if she were dying of cancer, so it's really no indication."

"Right," Ranbou mumbled glancing down at the bottle in his hand; just like the one he'd pulled from her flesh the night before. Grimacing, the boy set it on the floor and looked away from it, suddenly wishing he hadn't drank it in the first place.

Hiding a smile, Sesshomaru asked, "What exactly do you want with her?"

The question caught Ranbou off guard and he raised his eyebrows nearly into his hair. "Want? I don't want nothin! She's just Sukini!"

"Sure she is," Sesshomaru murmured, allowing himself a smirk before he leaned forward, donning his glasses and attacking the paperwork once more. Ranbou scowled at his bowed head, rolling his eyes and rising to return to his own work; there was a Celica in the corner screaming his name. Normally, Ranbou didn't work on cars, but today the garage was overflowing and he'd agreed to give the Fangs some friendly help on their load.

The boy worked away on the engine for a while, lost in parts and knuts, until he couldn't help but yawn; he'd never gone to sleep the previous night, not to mention had never returned home. Kouga knew from experience that, when Ranbou didn't come home, he was either bedding a girl or killing an enemy. As his brother was most definitely not in a fucking mood the previous night, Kouga was certain it had to be the latter.

"Tired?"

Ranbou nearly impaled the back of his head on the hood, but he managed to duck away just in time. Behind him, Shitora smirked and winked one broad amber eyes at him. "Didn't see that."

The boy snorted, turning towards her. "You doin' alright and everythin?"

"Who, me? Yeah, made o' steel," came her strong reply. "Sides, gotta be ready for Thursday."

At the mention of Thursday nights, Ranbou gave a curt nod and tried not to imagine Shitora and the rest of the Fang core carrying on their business. Even though he knew his own business of carrying out assassinations was worse, car boosting carried all sorts of complications with it and the whole deal made him uneasy. As Shitora was part of the Fang core, she was as much involved in at all as she other four. Ranbou just hoped they didn't get themselves in trouble; anyone could kill a guy and dump him in the ocean, but only a few select criminals boosted cars. And the police weren't _that _stupid.

"Yeah," Ranbou replied passively to her comment, turning away as another yawn consumed him.

Shitora furrowed her brow. "Did you sleep at all last night?" When Ranbou didn't answer, the hanyou bit her lip and mulled over this information. On nights when Ranbou didn't sleep, he carried out assassinations. And she had a feeling this wasn't your run of the mill murder. "Oh," she said quietly, setting down her keys on the table before reaching for a wrench to help him with the Celica. She moved rather stiffly with a hitch in her step, alerting Ranbou to the fact that she was anything but made of steel; she was obviously in some pain.

"You know, you don't have to work if you don't want to," Ranbou said then, never meeting her eyes. "If it hurts, you can just sit down."

"Naw, it's not in me to sit down just cause of some little cut," Shitora replied with a toothy grin. "Besides, after you went and sacrificed like that for me, what kind of person would I be to just sit back and watch _you _work?"

Ranbou froze, casting a glance in the girl's direction; he knew how Kouga had decoded the kill, but how had Shitora? Was she just smart or did she have connections? How many people knew now? "My sacrifice?"

Pausing, Shitora turned so that their eyes locked together in place. As amber danced with icy blue, she smiled a small smile. "About that. Thank you."

Both were silent for a moment, searching the other's eyes boldly for justification, before they both turned at the same instant and grabbed for new tools, beginning their work on the Celica with gusto. This was not a day to waste.

**And another chapter under the belt. I know there's a lot of ShitoraxRanbou in this and I'm sorry, since I have a feeling they're not really a favorite couple. The next chapter is SangoxMiroku, so get ready for that; I'm gonna try not to make it cliche, but hey, fluff always brings some cliche-ness with it, so whatever. ;) Thanks for all the reviews and thank you Esk42, who astutely pointed out that one does not pull a trigger, but squeeze; pulling makes your shot go wayward. I must admit, I wasn't even thinking when I wrote that; my bad. Much love reviewers!**

**KOLU**


	17. Expect the Unexpected

**Hey guys, back again with the next chapter. Thank you to everyone for your faithful reviewing; I was pleasantly surprised that people like Ranbou/Shitora. It really made my day, haha. Love.**

The night air was warm and still, gentle breezes drifting over the ocean and sending waves of leisure through Tokyo's streets. A foghorn gave a low belch, alerting those at the harbor that night was upon them and all was safe and sound, even past midnight. Flickering lights, yellow with age, lit the piers and warehouses with an eerie glow, casting long shadows on the dusty walls; something in the wind was dangerous, yet oddly calming.

Sesshomaru sighed, sending billows of smoke pouring out through his mouth and nostrils; if it were up to him, he'd be anywhere but the harbor this warm summer's night, but duty held a tight leash. The dog demon lifted his golden eyes to the sky, observing the smoggy film ensconcing the moon from his immediate view. Sometimes he wondered if he should grab Rin and high tail it to the country, buy them a small cottage and ignore the foolish world around them. But then duty gave his leash a yank and Sesshomaru sharnk back into position, knowing he couldn't abandon his post just yet. When it was time to leave, he would know.

Inuyasha, Shitora, Miroku and Kouga said boredly against the warehouse, readjusting their positions atop the crates ever so often. All of them, save Shitora, were smoking up a storm, nervous and fidgety on this Thursday night. Inuyasha let out a snort, crossing his leather clad arms irritatedly. "Will those jerks hurry up and get their asses over here? I wanna go home."

"Me too," Shitora breathed wearily, closing her eyes against the ugly landscape of the harbor. "We've got work in the morning."

"It's no different than any other Thursday," Miroku reminded them gently, tiring of his cigarette and crushing the dead butt beneath his boot heel. "Waiting, exchanging, and leaving. That's all we do."

Kouga snorted, sending a puff of smoke through his nose. "That doesn't mean they can take their sweet time. We set a drop off period for a reason; I wish they'd honor it like we do."

Just as Kouga said these words, a pair of bright high beams cut through the darkness and struck the group in the face, causing them to shield their eyes. Sesshomaru pushed off the warehouse wall, dropping his cigarette to the ground before walking leisurely over to meet his client. The car came to a stop, killing its lights and then its engine; the mechanics looked longingly at the Rolls Royce, wondering what it would be like under the hood of such a car. After a moment, the driver's door opened to reveal a man dressed in a plain black suit; he hurried to the back door and opened it swiftly, bowing low as a rather round leg stepped out from the cab.

Hanya Torukinay was short and squat, dressed in a tacky in stripe suit and bowler. He looked every bit the mob boss with his beady eyes and rolling fat lips, but he was known for his ruthless attitude. With a lurch, he pulled himself from the car and straightened out the wrinkles in his jacket, turning his fat face towards the Fang core in its entirety.

"Ah, if it isn't my little gang boys," Hanya said with a sickening grin. Casting an eye over Shitora, he added, "And their bitch."

Shitora said nothing, knowing she couldn't attack the man for a comment such as this. She satisifed herself with gritting her teeth, narrowing her eyes, and digging her claws into her palms; it was going to be a long night.

"I trust your carried out my order?" the mob boss continued, waddling slowly towards the warehouse door, careful not to get dirt on his crisp white Spatz.

Sesshomaru, whose lips were oddly tight, gave a curt nod and said, "Everything you asked for is in place."

"We'll see about that," Hanya replied, still retaining his grin. The stocky man pushed the warehouse door open with one heavily ringed finger, followed by his chauffer and a rather ominous man with an obvious bulge at his hip. Sesshomaru cast an eye over his gang members, giving them a cautioning look; when there were guns involved, they knew to be very careful with what they said.

The body guard flipped on the light, revealing a warehouse much like the one where the Fangs conducted their mechanics. The only difference lay in the contents; this warehouse was empty but for five shining sports cars, parked adjacent to one another in the middle of the room. A Lamborghini, a Saleen, a Maserati, a Porsche and a Ferrari, all gleaming reds, yellows and blacks. Hanya walked casually towards the five cars, running his hand over each and every freshly polished hood. He peered inside the cars, noting the leather interior and fine detailing, before moving to the back of the vehicles, smiling faintly at the personalized license plates; TRUKNAY.

"Not bad, Taisho, not bad at all," Hanya murmured, nodding his fat head moderately. "I suppose we'll settle on the price we agreed on, then. Since everything seems to be in order, that is."

Sesshomaru nodded and walked slowly towards Hanya and his guards, keeping his hands strategically out of his pockets to denote that he was unarmed. The chauffer, who was carrying a mysteriuos black briefcase in his hands, lowered his eyebrows and waited until Sesshomaru was directly before him to hand him the container. Sesshomaru, as the others watched, unlocked the briefcase and examined its contents; 5,000,000 yen.

After giving the sum a brief once over, Sesshomaru nodded his silver head, saying in a dull monotone, "Until next month, Torukinay."

"Yeah, next month. If these cars are good to me," came Hanya's reply, giving Sesshomaru a broad wink and letting loose a sickening barrel laugh.

Hanya and his body guards exited the warehouse and entered the Rolls Royce, turning on their high beams before driving along the dock wood towards the road. As soon as the man was out of the area, Inuyasha made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. "God, I hate that guy."

"Better than Jenyi," Kouga said dryly, shaking his head slightly.

"Or Kanryu," Miroku added.

"Yeah, and I actually kind of like Sanyo," Shitora mentioned, letting loose a small smile.

Every Thursday of the month, the Fangs did business with one of these four mob bosses. Each had a taste for cars and seemed to need them more often than one needed shoes. Sesshomaru suspected that they gave them away as present to beneficiaries, but he couldn't say for sure; after the Fangs accepted parts from Sweden and decked out the sports cars, they didn't see the machines again. The only difference between these cars and the Fangs' own transportation lay in the EPA filter; the boosted cars had illegal filters under the hood. Filters regulated speed and gas mileage, making it so that a car couldn't exceed a certain velocity or obtain a certain gallon/mile ratio. With the Swedish filters, which consequently harmed the environment, speed depended on the engine and gas mileage was 15 more efficient. The Fangs made a hefty profit on their vehicles.

Yawning tiredly, Miroku said, "I'm going home, see everyone in the morning."

The others muttered goodbye as Miroku waved a hand, walking off towards his car, parked behind the warehouse with the others. There was a silence between Kouga and the three Taishos as they all wondered what the others could be thinking; every Thursday, despite their tough facades, the Fangs wondered if what they did was wrong. Was it so wrong to fight for the wellbeing of their gang? They did what they had to do to get ahead; was that so terrible?

Finally, Kouga glanced down at his watch and said, "I oughta go, too. See you guys tomorrow."

The wolf demon and Sesshomaru performed a quick hand pull, the man hug where they bump chests in that moderate, platonic way, before striding off to hs motorcycle. The siblings who remained exchanged glances, shrugging and deciding wordlessly to head for home. Shitora rubbed her eyes wearily, white ears drooping ever so slightly as they walked. Inuyasha grinned wrapping an arm around his sister's shoulder.

"Tired, Tora?"

"Yeah, I can't find a comfortable position when I sleep cause of that damn cut," the girl mumbled in reply, referring to the scar on her back. It had only been a week since the incident and, while she was hanyou, the wounds was made by a demon and seemed to bother her constantly.

Sesshomaru frowned. "Take pain killers before you go to sleep," he advised.

"I do, I'm like an Advil junkie lately. They don't do much," came Shitora's tired reply, letting loose a wide yawn that stretched her tiny mouth cutely.

"Kaede's probably got somethin'," Inuyasha said finally, giving the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Sighing, Shitora nodded and glanced up gratefully at Sesshomaru's car as it came into view; the three took the same vehicle, as several cars around the docks at night might raise suspicion. Sliding tiredly into the backseat, the girl allowed her eyes to close as she fell into a fitful sleep, rolling to the side every so often as she pressed down uncomfortably on her back.

Sesshomaru started the engine and soon they were on the road, gazing out at the deserted night highways. Inuyasha enjoyed the certain limitless feeling which accompanied night rides on open road, as though they could drive forever without barricades or restraints. Glancing back at Shitora, he said carelessly, "I didn't realize how much I missed her before she came back."

This provoked a soft, barking chuckle from his older brother. "I know what you mean. She's just the way she was before...apart from the provocative clothes and the ocassional lewd comment."

"I kind of like the lewd comments, not gonna lie," came Inuyasha's cheeky response.

"You would."

After a moment, during which Inuyasha noted the rhythym set by the passing street lights, he asked, "Is Rin still angry about this?"

Knowing that by "this," Inuyasha was referring to their illegitimate activites on Thursdays, the Fang leader answered stoically, "She doesn't enjoy the fact that we do it, but she doesn't try to make me stop. She understands, to a certain point I think, _why_ we do it."

Inuyasha made a sound in the back of his throat. "Maybe she can remind me tomorrow. I forget sometimes."

Sesshomaru snorted. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"I mean, what do you tell her when you leave? 'Don't worry, baby, I'm only facing off some mobsters for illegal drag cars,'" Inuyasha asked sarcastically, staring belligerently out the window; Sesshomaru could see that he was sinking into one of his funks again.

The Fang leader, forever patient with his brother, flipped on his blinker and exited the highway near their house, acting as though he couldn't hear the acid tone in Inuyasha's voice. "I don't wake her up, for one thing. If I want to keep my parts intact, waking her up isn't in my best interests. But no, I don't generally tell her what we do."

It was nothing new to Inuyasha that Sesshomaru and Rin slept together. They had their wild nights and then, more often than not, they simply slept cuddled in each other's arms, not wanting sex to interfere with their relationship to the point where it was nothing _but _sex. When they wanted to do something besides cuddle, they went to Rin's house when the servants had the night off and her father was out of town. When they simply wanted to fall asleep together, they found solitude at Inuyasha's house, where their actions weren't frowned upon. Kaede knew perfectly well that nothing untoward when on upstairs and, with this easing her mind, she allowed the behavior to continue. Inuyasha and Shitora truly could've cared less, as long as there was no sex next door; being half demons, they could hear and smell their share of disgusting details.

"I swear, Shomo, sometimes I'm so fuckin' jealous of you two," Inuyasha said randomly, causing Sesshomaru to cock a thin white eyebrow in surprise.

"Are you? I wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me just now. I didn't think you were looking for a serious relationship," the older brother mentioned, sounding more amused than anything.

The hanyou sighed, ears drooping slightly. "Eh, I didn't think I was. I've been rethinkin' that lately, though."

"Because of Kagome?" Sesshomaru asked casually, enjoying the irritated glint in his brother's eye.

"None of yer business, bastard," Inuyasha bit back harshly, crossing his arms in a defiant gesture. "Me and Kagome ain't doin' anything, if that's what yer saying."

Noticing with a smile how rancid Inuyasha's speech became at the thought of love, Sesshomaru said pleasantly, "Which might explain how bitchy you've been lately. Maybe if you and Kagome get together, we won't have to put up with any more of your shit."

Inuyasha gave a pracitcally acidic "feh," turning his gaze pointedly away from his brother; this conversation was no longer going in a direction he cared to dabble in. At the stubborn look on the hanyou's face, Sesshomaru concealed a smirk and returned his eyes to the road. So he'd hit the nail on the head, had he? Everyone knew Kagome and Inuyasha had an attraction, especially after the boy's performance at the race. But the two of them were practically impossible when it came to consummating their relationship; eventually, their friends decided it was best to let things take their course and Operation Hook-up was put on an indefinite hiatus. With Rin and Ayame's suspicious glances lately, however, Sesshomaru had a terrible gut feeling the whole thing might start up again. The very idea made him rather ill.

The Saleen eventually came to rest in the Taisho's driveway and Sesshomaru killed the engine. After gently sweeping Shitora into his arms, the older Taisho followed Inuyasha around the house towards the back door where they quietly entered the kitchen, lest they wake Kaede or Rin, who was spending the night. Sesshomaru paused by the back door as he caught a hint of cigarette smoke on the air.

"Inuyasha, take Shitora upstairs," he said softly, passing his sister off to his brother and turning casually towards the back yard. Inuyasha, who also smelled the caustic scent of cherries and cigarettes, smirked and went back inside the tuck in Shitora.

Sesshomaru entered the backyard through the swinging gate, observing Rin as she lay contentedly on the trampoline, cell phone in one ear and cigarette pressed between her lips. The dog demon approached her, making sure to shuffle his feet and alert her of his presence; Rin admonished him constantly about sneaking up on her, which he did quite often, though not on purpose. It was simply his quiet way.

At the sound of shuffling in the grass, Rin sat up and smiled slightly. "Aya? Mhmm, Sesshy's home too. Yeah, go back to bed. Love."

The girl flipped the phone closed, replacing it in her sports bra as she practically threw herself into Sesshomaru's arms. The Fang leader caught her deftly, holding her close and savoring the sweet scent of cherries as it assaulted his nostrils. Rin buried her head in his strong chest, sighing in what sounded like relief.

"There you are," she murmured, as though she'd been looking for him all this time.

Sesshomaru chuckled, leaning down to plant a chaste kiss on Rin's lips. "A little later than normal. Hanya took his sweet time getting to the drop off." As an afterthought, he added, "And when he finally came, he called Shitora our bitch. She was very pleased."

Giggling, Rin took his hands in hers and cocked her head to the side. "Was she? Somehow I can just imagine that."

Shaking his head with a small smile on his face, Sesshomaru snaked a strong arm around Rin's waist and lead her back into the house, guiding her up the stairs to his room where he promptly closed the door. He kept his room in good condition, if not for the occasional discarded shirt, but he was a relatively clean boy of 18. Rin flopped back on the bed in only her sports bra and pink bed shorts. Sesshomaru had to admit the sight was pleasing as he removed his jacket, hanging it in its regular place on the door knob. He then removed his wife beater and jeans, leaving himself wearing only his boxers, quite a sight for any woman to see.

This done, he laid down facing Rin on his side and wrested a hand on her waist, not daring to pull her much closer in the heat. "Aya's awake at this time?" he mused, playing with a lock of Rin's hair.

Eyes half hooded, his girlfriend replied lightly, "She and I always talk on Thursdays to keep ourselves awake, you know? She worries about Kouga a lot, more than I worry about you I think. I've learned not to worry _so _much, but Aya..." Sighing, Rin continued, "Kouga's all she has most of the time. All those brother and sisters, no one to help her but Jun, her dad away every night making money to keep them all alive...it's sad. I've offered her money, but she's too proud for that. I wish I could help her."

Sesshomaru shook his head slightly. "And I wish I could help Kouga, but both of them are too stubborn to accept our help. He and Ranbou live on their own most of the time; I swear their father's in too deep to ever get out of the Yakuza. Rumor has it he's retiring, but I have this strange feeling that one might not be able to just retire. He knows too much. All we can hope is that Miroku's father helps him out."

"They're perfect for each other, I think," Rin said softly, chuckling as she dwelled on Kouga and Ayame's relationship. "If not for each other and the gang, they have absolutely nothing, but together they're happy. You know?"

The dog demon smiled slightly at Rin's wistful romanticism, running a thumb absently across her cheek. "Kouga's easily satisfied like that. He lives for other people; I've come to understand that. If he thought we could do without him, he'd probably go away and die somewhere. That's the kind of person he is."

"Why my lord," Rin teased, "I do think you just admitted to _needing _Kouga! I didn't know you needed anyone!"

Her giggling was cut short as Sesshomaru intercepted her lips, drawing her into a passionate kiss which took the humor right out of her mouth. Eventually, the kiss came to a natural end, one which was shortened considerably by Rin's confusion; Sesshomaru didn't often kiss her like that for no reason. The glimmer in his eyes proved her thoughts true as he observed her, smile loving but serious.

"I need Kouga, Inuyasha, Shitora, my friends, and most of all, I need you, Rin. I'm not so proud that I can't admit my own manly needs," he said, amber eyes shining an amused gold in the moonlight.

Softening at his words, Rin placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and said quietly, "I need you, too."

"I love you, Rin. I'm afraid I don't tell you that enough," Sesshomaru said with a slight sigh, weary from days of putting on a stiff face.

"I love you too, Sesshomaru."

And with that, both Rin and Sesshomaru closed their eyes, drifting into a peaceful night's sleep. The next day would surely be another of great peril and drama, as most days often were. But together, they could tackle all the disgruntled mechanics in this world, if only for the sake of love and its passions. As a wise man once said, love is truly all a person needs.

The summer sun beat down mercilessly upon the inhabitants of Tokyo, bringing sweat to skin's surface and coaxing citizens towards the beach. For the gangs, however, today was not a day for swimming in the ocean; it was, in fact, a day for work. The warehouse hangar door was open, allowing what would've been a wonderfully cooling breeze to float in...that is, had there been any wind to speak of.

Shippo sighed and wiped a sheet of glistening sweat from his forehead, staring belligerently up at the sky outside. What with all the machinery inside headquarters, it had to be ten or fifteen degrees hotter inside the warehouse than it was outside. And this was certainly saying something. Knowing better than to complain, the kitsune turned away from the taunting sun outside and tightened his grip on his wrench, returning to his work.

Sango glanced over at the redheaded boy, marveling at how much he resembled Kei and Nanashi. The hair of his mother, the eyes of his father, his mother's determination, his father's pleasant attitude. Chuckling, the girl turned her head ever so slightly to the side and gave a small gasp as a snap panged sharply against her head, followed shortly by the gentle rush of her hair cascading down her back. Reaching her hands up to touch the top of her head, Sango groaned; her rubbed band had snapped in the heat.

"Hold on a second, guys, sorry, hair malfunction," she muttered to Shippo and Miroku, who she'd taken to working with over the past couple of weeks. Shippo gave a brief nod to show he'd heard while Miroku actually glanced up, violet eyes twinkling as his obsvered the objects of his affection, dark brown hair falling around her like the Kami herself.

"Roku, drill," Shippo said dryly, holding out his open palm to the side. There was a brief silence as Shippo waited for the feel of metal against his hand, though it never came. "Miroku, the drill please?" Still nothing. Sighing, Shippo glanced up at Miroku, whose unfocused eyes were following Sango's every move as she approached Kagome, asking for a rubber band.

"Hey, Miroku," Shippo said louder, reaching out and shaking Miroku lightly by the shoulder.

At this, Miroku finally blinked and turned to face Shippo, shaking his head slightly as though to clear it. "Right, sorry, what did you need?" he asked, mouth rather dry and bare.

"The drill, two bit please," Shippo said casually, trying to conceal the smile threatening to overtake his features.

Miroku grabbed said drill from the tool table and handed it to Shippo, who began fiddling with the bit. After a moment, Miroku said conversationally, "Don't you think Sango looks fantastic with her hair down?"

Grunting as he tried to adjust the rusted bit, Shippo managed to get out, "Unh...she looks...grr...great..."

The older boy gave a dreamy sigh, resting his elbow on the car and his chin in his palm. "Agreed. Sango looks lovely with her hair down. Of course she looks lovely all the time, but especially like that. Like a goddess."

After a moment, Shippo gave the drill bit an extra sharp tug and groaned as it snapped off, another prey fallen to his demon strength. Discarding the damaged drill with practiced annoyance, Shippo walked carefully around the dreaming Miroku and began assembling a new one. "Miroku, why don't you just ask her on a date?"

Blinking his violet eyes in surprise, Miroku turned and fixed his gaze on Shippo, whose muscular twelve year old shoulders were bulging as he twisted the bit back into the drill cradle; sweat had already bled through the back of his white wifebeater, causing it to stick to his back, though Shippo seemed not to notice. Miroku glanced down at his own chest, which was getting noticeably wetter by the second. Realizing what he was thinking about, Miroku gave his head a good shake and realized that, once again, the heat was distracting him from everything else he should be doing. Like fixing cars, helping Shippo, watching Sango...

"Ugh," Miroku groaned, reaching down to the hem of his shirt and peeling it off disgustedly. Tan chest finally uncovered, the boy sighed; though it didn't really do much, at least he could feel a semblance of cool air on his back. Well, sort of. "Shippo, I'll be back in a second, okay?"

"Huh, yeah," Shippo replied distractedly as he continued his battle with the drill.

Miroku threw down his shirt carelessly on the floor as he approached Inuyasha, who was literally waist deep in his Lamborghini. He, Shitora, Ranbou and Kouga were trying to fit the grill on the front of the car and, to do so, Inuyasha had to stand inside the hood parts, in a hole where the newly ordered engine _would _go, and help the others get the screws in the right places.

"Alright, somebody help push it in," Ranbou murmured as he concentrated deeply on his work; he was trying to aline the grill holes with the screw holes. Kouga nodded curtly, moving to hold the corner of the grill in place while simultaneous keeping his hands out of the way. "Great, somebody get the other corner." Shitora moved to do so, but Ranbou glanced up and furrowed his brow. "Eh, Sukini, don't hurt your back doing that. Roku!"

Smiling at Ranbou's powers of observation, Miroku continued the rest of his journey at a jog, hurrying to take Shitora's place at the grill corner as she sighed and wiped her forehead defeatedly; no one let her do much of anything these days. "Alright guys, one, two, three," Ranbou counted aloud, watching as Kouga and Miroku gave simultaneous pushes and the grill groaned, snapping into place.

After leaning down to check, Ranbou announced, "We got a fit." The others gave a ragged, rather lifeless cheer as Inuyasha began drilling the screws deftly in from inside the hood. He finished quickly and glanced up as Miroku's hand appeared at his side. Smiling, Inuyasha accepted the help out of the car, careful not to jar any of the precious machinery.

"Thanks, Roku," he said gratefully, before turning to the others. "Alright guys, take a break."

The group nodded and began walking slowly towards the back of the room, hoping to grab a beer from the refrigerator. Turning back to Miroku, Inuyasha said with a grin, "I know you didn't come over here just to help put the grill on."

Chuckling, Miroku replied baldly, "You know me too well. Yeah, I got a question. And I want your honest answer, here, alright?" Inuyasha nodded, narrowing his amber eyes in confusion; normally, Miroku wasn't this unsteady on his feet. "Okay. I was thinking of asking Sango to, like, go out or something. Do you think she'll say yes?"

The hanyou snorted and crossed his arms, blowing a piece of silver hair away from his face. "If she doesn't say yes now, she never will; you've been a saint for almost two weeks now. Haven't touched her once, that I saw." Furrowing his brow dangerously, Inuyasha asked, "Have you?"

The boy held up his hands defensively, replying quickly, "No, no, I've been resisting the temptation. I thought maybe if I did, she would see that I don't want to just...I really do want to...um, I...huh..." Miroku trailed off, not quite knowing where he was going with his sentence.

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha said dryly, "If you're planning on pulling out that kind of big vocabulary when you ask her, how could she say no? You have a real way with words, Roku, anyone ever tell you that?"

Sighing, Miroku ran a hand through his dark hair and mumbled, "Yeah." There was a brief silence before Miroku looked up, a determined spark in his violet eyes. "You know what? I'm making a big deal out of nothing! I can do this, all I have to do is walk up and ask her! Okay!" And with this, Miroku turned on his heels and walked up to Sango with a determined gait. Inuyasha just shook his head, throwing his hands up in the air; fine, he gave up. He didn't even have to say anything, really, and Miroku went charging off like he was going to war. Fine. What-the-fuck-ever. It was too hot to give a rat's ass.

"Sango!" Miroku exclaimed boldly, causing Sango, who was in the middle of redoing her ponytail, to turn confusedly around, brown eyes alight with wonder; god, she was so beautiful.

"Yes?"

"Um..."

The way Sango was looking at him right the, eyes wide, hands poised above her head, wrapped firmly around her silken brown locks, cheeks slightly flushed in the heat...Miroku licked his dry lips, trying to form the words welling up in throat. "Uh...I...um..."

"You..." Sango trailed off, trying to help him finish his thought. "Were you going to ask me something, Miroku?"

"Uh..." Miroku mumured again, unable to shape his lips correctly in this moment of sheer internal chaos.

Unbeknownst to Miroku, those who were taking their break watched him interestedly, sipping beer as though observing an amusing movie in the theater. At the sight of his failure, the boys sighed and rubbed their temples soothingly; how hard was it to just say those fated words? _Will you go out with me. _Was it so hard? Shitora, however, felt her heart go out to the boy and making an irritated sound in the back of her throat, Shitora hurried towards the couple.

"Sukini, w-" Ranbou said blankly as the girl brushed past him, traveling at a rather quick speed for someone on their break. By this time, the entire warehouse was watching the exchange, silently cheering on Miroku. _C'mon, Miroku, just say it! Will you go out with me? _The others thought desperately, leaning forward in their unspoken desire to help him.

"Um, no," Miroku mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck in embarassment. "I wasn't going to...ask you..anything...uh..."

Sango blinked, appearing confused while, on the inside, she was rather disappointed. She'd been under the impression he was going to ask her out, but it appeared that hadn't been the case. "Oh. Okay," she said, shrugging and preparing to walk away.

By this time, Shitora had come upon Miroku and grabbed his shoulders, saying quickly, "Sango, wait!"

"Yes?" Sango asked blankly, turning to glance over her shoulder.

Shitora whispered urgently in the boy's ear, "Miroku, repeat after me: _will you go out with me?"_

"Will you go out with me?" Miroku echoed thoughtlessly, not even putting a moment's contemplation into the words. After realizing what he'd just uttered, Miroku's eyes went wide and a small smile crept over his face. "Yeah! That's what I was going to ask you, Sango. Will you go out with me tonight? Not like an awkward date, but maybe...dinner at my house? Or something?"

Grinning, Shitora unlatched her grip from Miroku's shoulders and walked quietly back towards the others, whose mouths were slightly open; he'd actually done it. He'd actually said the words; it had looked, for a slight instant, as though he wouldn't have the courage. Shitora came to stop at Ranbou's side and she sighed, taking a sip of beer as she continued to watch the exchange. "That was close," she murmured, earning chuckles from the others.

Blinking, Sango wondered what to make of the proposal; finally, she felt an unconcious smile spread across her features and she allowed her eyes to close partially, almost in relief, it seemed. "Sure, Miroku."

There was a brief silence as the warehouse watched with intense surprise and a tentative confusion; had Sango just agreed to go on a date with Miroku? Inuyasha smirked as he and Shitora winked discreetly at each other while the Ookami brothers both grinned. It seemed it was the end of an era; Sango and Miroku were going to go on a date.

"Cool," Miroku said with a small smile, looking for all the world as though he hadn't frozen or sttutered in the first place. "My house at 6. See you there."

Whistling a delicate tune, Miroku placed his hands in his pockets and walked leisurely towards the lounge area, ignoring the stunned looks of his fellow gang members as he grabbed a beer; nothing could ruin his good mood. Sango smiled slightly, shaking her head before returning to work. Shippo just snorted and continued drilling in the engine with his newly assembled bit; teenagers were so stupid.

"Well, which one?"

"Eh, I dunno, hold them up again."

"I like the skirt."

"Yeah, well you would. How about the opinion of someone who doesn't dress like a...well, a whore?"

"At least I have boobs, unlike some people in this room..."

"HEY! What the hell! That's low, Rin, really under the belt."

"Aya, I think you mean under the boob."

Sango sighed, shaking the hangars and trying to draw attention back towards her current dillema; what to wear. "Guys, can we focus here please?"

The girls turned towards Sango, staring for the umpteenth time at the clothes in her hand; in her left was a pair of leather pants and a purple tube top. In her right was a leather miniskirt and a red tank top. There was complete and total silence in Rin's bedroom as everyone observed the choices at hand, nodding or shaking their heads a few times, before Shitora finally let out a stream of air and said, "Neither."

The other girls groaned; they'd been at this for almost an hour now and nothing seemed to satisfy everyone. Sango was completely clueless as to handling this situation and, accordingly, she just continued to pull sets out of the closet and allowed the others to make decisions; she'd never been good with clothes anyway.

"This is getting ridiculous," Kagome said irritably, rubbing her forehead out of sheer desperation. "There's gotta be another way to do this."

"Yeah, can't we simplify this a little?" Ayame agreed, tired of the arguing.

"Sure, go naked," Shitora suggested, earning herself several dirty glares and one strategically placed pillow in the face.

Shoulders drooping, Sango allowed herself another sigh. "That's sounding better by the minute. What do you think Miroku likes?"

"Um, naked."

"Shitora, shut up," Kagome mumbled, whacking the hanyou on the back of her silver head.

"Wait, why can't she just go in jeans again?" Ayame broke in, adjusting her shoulder blades against the headboard of Rin's bed.

"Because, she's trying to impress him! Jeans don't impress people!" Rin protested, throwing her tiny arms askew.

"When you have Sango's ass, they do," Shitora said with a chuckle, causing a hot blush to rise to Sango's cheeks. The ones on her face, that is.

"Um, thank you?" she said hesitantly, not knowing quite how to respond.

Throwing her hands up defeatedly in the air, Rin said huffily, "Fine, wear jeans. But what about on top? Whatever it is, it's got to show cleavage."

"And here we go again," Ayame murmured, throwing her hands uselessly up in the air. "You and the whore clothes."

"What's up with you and that?" Rin demanded. "I thought you were supposed to be my best friend!"

"I am," Ayame replied boredly,"Which is why I can say with little or no guilt that you dress like a slut. You're not nearly as bad as the Vixens, by any means, but you do love showing off your ass...ets."

Kagome giggled before narrowing her eyes and exclaiming deeply, "Ooooh, cat fight!"

Shitora rolled her eyes, exchanging hopeless glances with Ayame; sometimes, girly issues simply drove them to distraction. Out of the vixens, they were often the least feminine, preferring to stick to their mechanics. Suddenly, Sango said decidedly, "Alright, this is what I'm wearing."

Before anyone could say another word, she ducked inside the closet and exited a moment later in a pair of jeans and a red wifebeater. Shitora giggled at the mortified expression on Rin's face, muffling it into her wrench hand; priceless. Kagome began giving her friend a mocking golf clap, which Ayame echoed, and Sango pranced around the room as though she were modeling on the runway.

"And here, sporting the newest fashion in all the posh teen circles, Sango Tajiya presents the new jeans and wifebeater from Target! Ce magnefique!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Positively dashing!" Shitora exclaimed in a fake british accent.

"Absolutely, the latest craze," Ayame drawled out, flicking her wrist

Rin sighed heavily, falling back on the matress and burying her head in one of her pink pillows. "You guys suck," she mumbled, trying to ignore the jeering chuckles of her friends as they continued their charade. Finally, Kagome glanced down at her watch and furrowed her brow.

"Hey, Sango, six, right?"

Glancing over her shoulder, where she was looking in the mirror, Sango replied, "Yeah, why?"

"Because it's 5:56."

"CRAP!"

Tossing her head back as though his might ease the flow of her hair, Sango grabbed her purse on the way out the door, screaming, "Thanks guys!" before flying down the stairs and out the door. Ayame gave a small smile and said quietly, "Good luck."

Rin, who was just near enough to hear, mumbled mutinously, "Yeah, good luck without cleavage."

Now, Sango had been to Miroku's house many times in the past and, for this reason and this reason only, was not suprised by the size of his house. His father was well known to be the the famed leader of the Tokyo Yakuza. He was thought to be ruthless, blood thirsty and cruel; this was almost laughable for, behind closed doors, he was a loving father and altogether delightful man. As he once said, however, "Business and family are two separate things." Because of his firm belief in this principle, he never "brought his work home" so to speak; there were never members of the Yakuza at his estate and they knew better than to come.

Today, Sango pulled up at the gate, which was otherwise shrouded by overgrowth, and spoke directly into the speaker. "Sango Tajiya."

"Hello, Ms. Sango. Come on in," came the gate keeper's response.

The gates swung open, revealing a dirty road shaded by overhanging trees; Sango drove her car slowly along the road, never glancing at the forested route; she recognized it enough not to care much. After quite a drive, the foliage grew thinner and soon parted, giving Sango her first glimpse of the mansion; it was, in and of itself, modeled to resemble and Italian villa with its tan walls and red roof tiles. Vines grew along the rod iron balconies, matching the climbing roses which scaled the walls, painting a picture of lovliness alongside the adjacent lake and substantial acreage.

Smiling to herself, Sango killed the engine at the round driveway and stepped out into the warm summer air, jogging quickly to the door; she absolutely detested being late. She knocked politely, only to find the door open immediately afterwards. Miroku's butler, an elderly British man by the name of Joyce, stood there in his suit, nodding politely. "Ms. Sango. A pleasure."

"Thank you, Joyce," Sango said sweetly, walking inside the tiled entrance way and sparing the furnishings very little attention. They were expensive, gaudy, most of them Italian. The one thing she truly _did _appreciate about Miroku's house was the fact that all the windows were constantly open in the summer, allowing the scent of flowers to drift in at all times. It made everything seem so much more...casual.

"Sango!"

Turning at her name, Sango smiled as Miroku came bounding down the stairs, wearing only jeans and a tight fitting black t-shirt; she had to admit that, with his defined muscles, that shirt was awesomely flattering. She almost wanted to reach out and touch his chest...but that would be incredibly awkward, she reminded herself, shaking her head free of such thoughts. This was supposed to remain as un-awkward as possible.

"Hey Miroku," she said, returning his bright grin. "Thanks so much for having me over."

"Oh, it's no problem," he replied quickly, reaching an arm around her near the small of her back. Sango grew rather red and waited for the feeling to come, that intrusive feelings when his hand was destined to defile her bottom, but it never arrived. Blinking, the girl found herself walking numbly into the kitchen, Miroku leading her all the way. He hadn't taken advantage of such an opportunity? Despite his good behavior of the past few weeks, Sango figured he would've jumped at the chance to cop a feel in jeans; he seemed to like jeans for some reason. By putting them on in the first place, she was testing him; one misplaced hand, and she was out of there.

"This is Wolfgang," he said, gesturing to a broad backed older man behind the counter; he was dressed in typical white chef's attire and hosted a full head of peppered hair, which splayed out from beneath his hat. "He's out resident cook, and a great one at that."

"Thank you, young Master," the man replied brusquely, a slight German accent shining through his nearly flawless Japanese. "I was born to do nothing else."

"This is Sango, a long time friend of mine," Miroku said with practiced propriety; despite his father's adamant decision to keep work away from the house, Miroku was still well versed in the social mores of his high ranking father's critical world.

Wolfgang cast a sharp black eye over Sango, who offered him a faint smile; he was rather intimidating up close. "It's a pleasure, Miss."

"Oh, no, pleasure's all mine," Sango stuttered out, still unused to the grandeur of Miroku's household.

"What would you like for dinner, Sango? Wolfgang can make anything. And I do mean anything," Miroku said, offering her a reassuring smile. She couldn't help but notice how good looking he was when he smiled, as though he could protect her from the world; funny how a simple smile could project such a feeling, but it wrapped around Sango like a warm blanket and she sighed against it.

"Umm, how about..." she trailed off, not knowing what in the world to ask for. Remembering that Wolfgang was German, she decided to act in his best interest and ask for something familiar to him. "How about something from Germany? I haven't had much German food before and I'm eager to try."

Wolfgang looked, to say the least, incredibly surprised, eyebrows disappearing into his grey black hair almost immediately. "German food? Are you sure, Miss?"

Sango smiled. "Of course! I love trying new things."

As Miroku watched the girl conversing with his chef, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by the way she interracted with others. He himself didn't have the foresight to ask Wolfgang for something such as that; he asked for things like spaghetti, pizza, hamburgers. It seemed logical that Wolfgang would know quite a bit about German food, wouldn't it? Sango was sensetive to others that way and had been since he'd met her. Perhaps that's what attracted him in the first place. Excluding her unmatchable beauty, of course.

"Very well, Miss. It will be ready in about an hour," Wolfgang said, a hint of a smile creeping across his weathered face.

"Thank you," Sango said, giving him a grateful nod. Miroku, too, gave Wolfgang a nod of recognition before leading Sango towards the carpeted kitchen stairs.

Upstairs, Miroku led Sango out a pair of rodiron gate doors, cast with the print of cherubic angels in their length, onto an outdoor walkway which led away from the main villa towards Miroku's house. It was strange to call it Miroku's house, but Sango noted with some chagrin that his "house" was bigger than her actual house. It was located behind the great expanse of the first mansion, some thirty feet away. Sango enjoyed the warm summer air as it washed over them, playing and tugging at her hair; she'd put it up in its original ponytail, not wanting to get it stuck on something. It was quite long, somewhere past her buttocks, but she didn't have the heart to cut it off. They'd been through so much together, after all.

"Alright," Miroku said as they entered his villa, coming through the door directly into the upstairs living room. "My original plan was to watch a movie, but if you'd rather do something else, that's fine with me."

Sango shook her head. "A movie is fine. What movies do you have?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Miroku announced, walking towards a pair of large double doors. "If there's one thing I take pride in, it's my movie collection."

Sango followed him towards the wall, furrowing her brow in confusion. When he threw open the doors, she was no longer confused; before her was a solid wall of nothing but DVDs, organized by title and filling up two seven way shelves. The collection was taller than her and five times as wide; no wonder he took pride in it.

"Wow," she murmured, unable to say anything else as she gazed at the countless choices.

Meanwhile, Miroku was playing a little game with himself, trying to guess which genre Sango would choose from. He pegged her as an action, perhaps sci-fi sort of person, but they'd really never discussed movies before; it simply didn't come up much. Yet, he was surprised to see her pull a movie from the shelf, saying brightly, "I love this movie. It never gets old."

Miroku stared down at the case. "Anchorman? Really? I didn't think you'd be much of a Will Ferrell fan," he conceeded, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Who said I'm a Will Ferrell fan? I like Steve Carrell," Sango replied saucily, grinning as she waved the movie seductively before his face.

The boy chuckled, grabbing the movie and rolling the case over in his hands. "Well, your wish is my command, Sango."

Sango flopped down easily on the couch, which was red, large, and overstuffed, before kicking off her flip flops; she was at ease around Miroku and comfortable in his house, despite its large and rather frightening nature. Whenever she'd been over before, Miroku had simply taken her to _his _villa, rather than fight the perils of the main house. She liked it much better this way.

Miroku opened the rather large doors to his big screen television, folding them aside and popping Anchorman into the DVD player. He was still wondering exactly where a person like Sango got off watching a movie like that; to put it plainly, the movie was stupid. Funny, yes, but stupid. He figured she'd be one of its many protestors, but there she was eagerly awaiting its start on the couch; apparently, he had much to learn about Sango Tajiya.

After popping the DVD in the machine, Miroku glanced back at the couch and wondered where to sit. If he sat too close, she would slap him. But if he sat far away, she would wonder what was wrong with him. And if he sat a moderate distance between them, he would feel that helpless need to be near her; he always felt that. Sighing, the boy walked towards her and took a seat about four inches away, allowing for scootage room if she wanted to get away. When she didn't move, Miroku released a sigh and turned his eyes to the screen; he manuevered easily through the DVD menu and, soon enough, the movie was underway.

The two watched and enjoyed themselves, laughing every third line or so; they were helpless against the comic genius that was Anchorman, as everyone is. The movie had just progressed to the rather strange scene involving a few birthing pandas and few rabid hibernating bears when Sango glanced over at Miroku as asked, "What do you think about Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship?"

The question caught Miroku off guard and he blinked; he thought for sure she was totally focused on the movie. "Um...I think somebody needs to make a move," he said finally.

Sango nodded thoughtfully; she was curled up against the couch arm, legs pulled to her chest, and Miroku tried not to stare at her perfect curves. All it took was a wifebeater and some jeans to do him in and now, he was staring at her like the Venus de Milo. Blinking, Miroku shook his head violently and thought of pure things like Jesus, virgins and the leather in a two seater RX-7.

"I agree," Sango said rather suddenly. "I mean, they do the tango the entire day and then just leave! It's bizarre."

"The tango?" Miroku asked, raising a confused eyebrow. "What's that mean?"

The girl paused before saying slowly, "Well...when I think of relationships I think of them like different dances. The tango is all about passion and teasing the other dancer and that's what they're about. See?"

Miroku nodded slowly, narrowing his violet eyes in a concentrated manner. "I think I get what you mean. Do Sesshomaru and Rin have a dance?"

"The waltz, I'd say," Sango said off handedly. "That's for people already in love. And they definitely are, if what I saw this morning was any indication."

Chuckling, Miroku recalled the morning, when Sesshomaru had basically pinned Rin to the refrigerator and had his dirty way with her right in front of the others. They hadn't had sex, obviously, but they certainly were getting, well, heated. "It's love or lust. Or both." Sango giggled; he had a point. "And Ayame and Kouga?"

This took a bit more thought, but Sango finally said, "The mambo. It's all about having fun while being serious...which they do somehow." With its complicated step, the Mambo was almost like a sophisticated ballroom dance with a little bit of life under the feet; this was the way Sango saw Ayame and Kouga. Tasteful, but edgy.

"And...haha, what about Shitora and Ranbou?" Miroku asked with a wolfish grin; their relationship was rather hard to figure out in the first place, nevermind relate to a dance.

But Sango didn't even hesitate. "A war dance. Like when tribes have aggressive dances before they go to war."

This provoked a deep throated laugh from Miroku, one which sent shivers down Sango's spine; really, she loved his laugh, they way it made light of everything but still made her feel wanted. How could one laugh do all that? She wasn't sure, but Miroku was different, that was certain. "How fitting," he murmured. There was a brief silence between them before Miroku lowered his eyebrows and gazed full into Sango's sparkling brown eyes. "And what dance are we?"

Unconciously, a blush rose to Sango's cheeks under his stare and she suddenly felt hot under the collar; his way always did that to her. "Us?" she asked quietly, looking for all the world like a delightfully excited school girl with her innocent face and rosy cheeks.

But Miroku answered his own question. "I think we're the Shiyokumi."

The Shiyokumi was a traditional Japanese dance depicting the story of a war lord and a salt collector. The war lord was riding by the beach when he spotted a beautfiul young woman collecting salt. They fell in love, but could never marry due to their social class differences and so, as a token of his affection, the war lord gave the woman his hat. As far as Miroku saw it, the war lord was in awe of the woman and wondered why they couldn't be of the same world. Love was strange like that.

"The...the Shiyokumi?" Sango asked confusedly, not understanding his comparison.

"One was out of league with the other," he said quietly, leaning forward slightly and closing what little gap their was between them. Their noses were almost touching when he murmured, "Except this time, you're out of my league, not the other way around. And if we were to fall in love...no one could stop us."

And before either could say another word, Miroku leaned forward and captured Sango's lips with his. Sango blinked, wondering what this strange feeling was; Miroku Houshi was kissing her! She should be jerking away and slapping every visible part of him with unmatched rigor! But something within her just couldn't pull away. His lips were so soft, inviting, and she wanted to explore them. Her inner woman screamed and stamped its foot loudly, trying to make her see reason, but Sango would'n't listen. There was nothing reasonable about this...maybe that's why she liked it. Miroku had been nothing but a jerk since the day they'd met, constantly violating her personal space and saying lewd things in her presence. Sure, they were flattering lewd things, but they were lewd all the same. And yet, through all of that, she couldn't hate him; especially recently, he'd been downright tollerable and gentlemenly towards her. What could she possibly do but kiss him back?

Miroku, upon realizing what he'd done, thought for sure that his life was about to end. Any second now, a fist of fury would come descending down upon him, pummeling him out of existence until there was absolutely nothing left but a pile of guts. But somehow, that fist never came and Miroku found himself lost in the mesmerizing heaven of Sango's taste. He realized vaguely that she was kissing him back, not pulling away but actually returning his gesture. Egged on by this, Miroku took the next daring step and snaked his arms around her waist. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. It was rather like a dance, he realized, one move resolved as the other countered.

Eventually, the two of them broke apart, gasping for air and staring at each other with unreadable expressions. Finally, Miroku sighed and said, "God Sango, you don't know how long I've wanted to do that."

"What, kiss me?" Sango asked bewilderdly; she'd always assumed his aspirations concerning her were more untoward than simply kissing.

"Absolutely," came Miroku's quiet reply.

Out of breath and slightly flattered, another pink tinge spread across Sango's face. "Oh. I always thought you...well, I never though through all of this that we...wow."

Miroku chuckled, eyes suddenly darker. "You must think I'm a real letch. Constantly groping you, embarrassing you, making light of how beautiful you are. When really I just wanted to be closer to you. And I got that by becoming your friend instead. I really took the long road."

His words struck a chord in Sango's heart and she smiled faintly, replying, "Yeah, but it was worth it I guess. Kind of like a cold drink after working is so much more refreshing."

"You and your analogies, love," Miroku mumbled, shaking his head slowly. "They never cease to amaze me."

It was a small thing, certainly, but Sango absolutely adored the way her called her "love." She'd never been much for pet names, since "baby" sounded trashy and "sweetie" was too girlish, as was honey. But "love" seemed absolutely perfect for not only her, but also for Miroku. He was classy like that, in a strange way; most of the time, perverts weren't really considered classy, but he wasn't really a pervert anymore, was he? Now he was just Miroku. Her Miroku.

Before she could ponder over her mind's possessive nature, Miroku asked Sango rather casually, "I know this might be out of order with what we just did, but will you go out with me, Sango?"

Sango couldn't help but laugh at the awkward expression on Miroku's face and she replied nodding, "Yes, Miroku. I will."

The boy blinked, all life gone from his face. She said yes. The woman of his dreams had just said yes to his proposal of going out. And here he thought she would tell him it was "going to fast" or "she didn't feel anything in the kiss." But he had certainly felt something in that kiss, so why shouldn't she, right? Or wrong? Miroku's head was an absolute jumble of thoughts before it dawned on him: she returned his feelings.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, leaping up from the couch and doing an arm pump of triumph. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Sango followed Miroku's movement as he danced his way across the room, thanking all things holy that she had accepted his offer. After a while, she got a rather naughty grin on her face and rose smoothly from her seat, walking in a cat-like fashion to the corner where Miroku was doing a jig of happiness. She took hold of one of his arms, pulling her around the face her, before leaning in to press their bodies together. "Miroku, don't ignore me."

And with this, Sango instigated their second kiss, this one a bit more raw and passionate. Miroku noticed rather blithely that Sango's hair was still up in a ponytail and, realizing that she was now his girlfriend, he reached up and pulled the rubber band from its place, leaving her hair to fall about her in a cascading brown wave. As he ran his fingers through her hair, Miroku moaned and sent shivers down Sango's spine. This was true ecstasy.

Eventually, Sango leaned back slightly, cocking her head to the side. "What do you think the others will say?"

Blinking, Miroku tried to categorize his thoughts after that absolutely heart stopping kiss. "Well, the girls will get all squealy and the guys'll probably just ask me when I'm going to do you. That's the way it works, you know?"

Sango laughed at his honest statement, not at all offended since she'd seen it all happen more than once. "Ha, your right. What if we just didn't tell them and waited for them to figure it out?"

This suggestion brought a smile to Miroku's face and he cocked an eyebrow slyly. "Why Sango, what an intriguing proposition! I think Inuyasha will be the first to notice, being my best friend and all."

Sango snorted. "Inuyasha? He can't even open his eyes about his own relationship, nevertheless ours. No, I bet Ayame will notice first."

The boy stared blankly at his girlfriend, whose arms were still around his waist. "Ayame? I always thought she was more...mechanical than romantic. I think..." He trailed off, leaving Sango to roll her eyes at his comment.

"That's what everyone thinks. But she and Kouga are the most astute out of everyone, except for maybe Sesshomaru. They'll be the first to notice for sure. Sesshomaru just wouldn't say anything, so we'd never know," Sango said.

"What do you say we rise the stakes, love?" Miroku asked, cocky smile causing Sango's heart to swell with affection.

"Oh? Tell me more," she murmured, giggling at the thought of a bet; she could never turn them down and Miroku was perfectly aware of this.

"I say Inuyasha finds out first and you say Ayame. So whoever loses has to..." Miroku trailed off, not sure what to offer as a prize.

"Has to clean the other's car in a bathing suit. While the other watches," Sango interjected, evil smirk set firmly on her curvy lips.

At the prospect of a wet, half naked Sango rubbing a sponge along the window of his car, Miroku bit back a groan and murmured, "God, yes."

Sango lowered her eyebrows, leaning in so that there lips were nearly touching. "And the game is on." With that, Sango pulled him in for their third kiss of the evening, surprised at how much she liked kissing Miroku. Sure, she'd kissed people before, but it was nothing like this. And damn her if she wasn't happier now than she had been in a long time.

**I tried to make Sango and Miroku believable, but if they weren't, I'm sorry. Everyone saw it coming for a while, right? I mean, I've never been too good at them, unfortunately. But I gave it an honest effort; hope I satisfied everyone. Thanks to all for their reviews! Love!**

**KOLU**


	18. Curveball

**Back with another chapter! Thanks to the writing panel and much love to everyone, I'm moving right along I suppose. I've been getting into a lot of Naruto lately...anyone into Naruto? Naruto is pretty sweet, won't lie. I like me some Kiba...hehe...alright...**

"...and I've never been so scared in my entire life. Kikyo...I couldn't even move."

It was a quite, breezy morning at the Totosai Mori Memorial Pschyatric hospital windows of the minimum security ward open and allowing the scents of summer to drift inside. Kagome sat in her usual chair, legs pulled up to her chest as she observed Kikyo's back, which was a fascinating entity all its own. As Kikyo braced her arms at the window's edge, staring out at the world with a wistful sort of longing, Kagome traced the delicate curve of her spine as it rebelled against the white linen captivity of her bed gown. The stark contrast of midnight black hair against the smock gave Kikyo a sort of grey pallor, though she seemed to weather through it all with her usual indifference.

Ink black eyes following the path of a twittering blue bird, Kikyo asked rather interestedly, "Transformed? That's not like him. Normally he's more in control than that...or I guess I should say normally he has more grace than that. He's never really had control. But transforming at a race? He must really love you."

This brought a faint blush to Kagome's cheeks. "Whose ass did you pull that out of?" Kagome asked, voice cracking rather audibly. "He was just worried about a friend is all."

When Kikyo snorted, it was hard to tell if it was out of disdain or marvel. "I know you haven't had much experience with demons, Kagome, but I'll tell you what I've gathered from my time around them: they don't transform for any one Mary Katherine Shit walking around. To really lose their temper, and I mean explode with anger that eats them up inside, they'd have to be angsting over their mate."

The word "mate" drew what little color remained away from Kagome's cheeks and she stared wide eyed at Kikyo's back. "M-mate? Like...when dogs have rough sex and make tons of babies? That kind of mate?"

"Mate," Kikyo repeated quietly, lips curving strangely around the word as she peered, slit eyed, at the world below.

Kagome gulped, in what must of been a noticeable way, for Kikyo's eyes adopted an amused twinkle. "Are you afraid of that word? You look like you are."

It was a mystery to Kagome how Kikyo could deduce such a thing, as she was facing away from her at the time, but Kagome managed to get out, "No, no, I just never really thought of...relationships that way."

"Mating is forever, you know," Kikyo said loosely, shifting her body around until, like a graceful ballerina, she was sitting on the window sill staring at her guest. "All it takes is a fuck and a bite mark to seal your fate."

At first, Kikyo's random curse words had startled Kagome, but she'd since become used to them. Hearing such a godly, out-of-the-realm human being say words like "fuck" and "shit" cast a strange veil over Kikyo's beautiful face; strangely enough, it only added to her mysterious appeal. "How do they know who their mate is?" Kagome asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Kikyo didn't answer for a moment, content to observe Kagome with her bottomless eyes, before she finally said, "Love is a human ideal some acid tripper created to ease their own lonliness. They like to think mortals can find their one true love by accident or pure will, but it can't be done. Demons have a different fate than us; their entire fate is laid out like a path, leading them to their one true partner. A demon might suddenly pack up his things and move to Australia for no obvious reason, except thinking that he simply wanted to go. And when he arrives, he'll meet his mate walking down the beach without a care in the world. Their entire lives lead them to their mates; we're just the pawns they pick up and pocket along the way."

Outside, a wind chime let loose a soft melody in the wind and Kagome shuddered, not understanding what to do with Kikyo's cryptic words. Randomly, Kikyo said things like that, things laced with so many meanings not even top scholars could pick them up, and Kagome had yet to get used to it. How a person existed who spoke in modern prose was beyond Kagome, but there she sat before her, dressed in a willowy night gown with murder in her eyes. It wasn't Kagome's murder which Kikyo wished for, but someone else's murder. Someone she'd yet to meet...but she would kill them when the day came.

"So what your saying is that if a demon chose you as its mate, you wouldn't have a choice? You would have to go?" Kagome asked faintly, brow furrowed and heart aching rather fiercely.

"You wouldn't have to go...but it you wanted them to live, it would be a good idea," came Kikyo's airy reply; she began swinging her legs against the wall in a restless gesture. "Demon love and human love are two separate things; demon love knows nothing about divorce, hardship or anger. Nothing can break a demon bond."

"So really, if you cared about them at all, even if you didn't love them back, you would have to stay with them," Kagome said quietly, already knowing the answer.

Kikyo's hair came loose from its braid as the breeze teased it, blowing it around Kikyo's waifish form. "You think about circumstance too much, Kagome. You'll never actually live if you can't survive in the moment."

Sighing, Kagome leaned her head back against the wall; and yet again, there she was, struck dumb by one of Kikyo's stunning one-liners. If she didn't know any better, the girl might accuse Kikyo of spending her days in the pysch ward thinking up witty comebacks, but she knew it would only provoke a laugh. After a brief silence, Kagome popped the question which had been plaguing her two days now.

"Kikyo, what's race wars?"

With a snort, Kikyo leaned forward slightly, revealing a tantalizing view of cleavage. "Race wars, huh? I guess it's that time of year again." It struck Kagome how, even though she was straight, the view of Kikyo's slightly bare breasts made her blush. Perhaps it was the sheer perfection she saw there, creamy skin untainted by blemish or mark; no wonder men fell at her feet.

"Yeah," Kagome said, steadying her voice as best she could. Every time she visited Kikyo, Kagome felt her soul almost squeeze at the sheer volume of the invalid's personality, as though it could consume her whole. It both frightened her and fascinated her.

"Race wars," Kikyo whispered to herself in her usual quiet monotone. "Well, it's a thing to behold. Imagine ten races going on all at the same time, stretching out across an abandoned air force base, tens of thousands of people there. It's all the gangs from around Japan, gathered together to see who's the best. Everyone spends their entire year gearing up for race wars, you know. These petty night races are pride battles, not actual fights. At race wars, you see who's going to lay down the law for the next year and, last year, it was the Fangs. As it has been since Sesshomaru came into power. But before that..." Kikyo's normally unbreakable facade flinched slightly and she cleared her throat, continuing. "Before that, Naraku and the Tarantulas were in power. Naraku is a year older than you and I, did you know?" Kagome shook her head; she had no idea. "He was held back in the eighth grade. That was the year his parents were killed in the line of duty on a routine raid, so he naturally missed a lot of school."

When Kikyo dropped this proverbial bomb, Kagome nearly choked; killed in the line of duty? "What did his paents do for a living?"

"Police officers," Kikyo replied stonily. "High ranking ones too. Shot dead."

Furrowing her brow, Kagome settled softly back against the wall. Her stepfather was a marvelous policemen and she took the words "high ranking" to mean incredibly skilled and high up in the call list. If this was true, then why would Naraku pick a life of crime when his parents had been murdered by criminals? "That doesn't make sense. Why would Naraku..."

But Kikyo, as usual, cut her off. "Because it made him sick. I'm a sick sex fiend, he's a sick sadist. We're all a little sick."

The words hung heavily in the air before Kagome waved them away with her next question. "Right, but what does all this have to do with race wars?"

Raising her dark eyes to meet Kagome's brown ones, Kikyo replied in a rather frightening voice, "I'm just trying to explain what life under Naraku's rule was like for the gangs. Constant terror. It wasn't text book, in the sense that we wasn't 'the king' by all technicalities, but winning Race Wars gives you that unnofficial title and no dared oppose him. Until Sesshomaru came along. You've noticed how loyal the other gangs are to Sesshomaru, haven't you? It's because he saved them all, brought them out of darkness so to speak. And what was he, 13? A prodigy. An absolute genius."

To hear Kikyo speak highly of someone startled Kagome, but she was pleasantly surprised. All this time, she'd noticed something old and simmering within Sesshomaru and she now understood what made her so uneasy; it was his absolute vast knowledge. He seemed like a stoic most of the time, but really he was just a smart man in a stupid world, breaking all the rules with several strategic steps. "So Race Wars defines this life," Kagome said, as though coming out of an ephiphany.

Chuckling, Kikyo said, "Careful, you're starting to sound like me. But exactly. It defines the entire year, more like. Without Race Wars, this entire set up would be a bunch of rebellious teens smoking and having sex in cars. Race Wars...doesn't make us legit, but we almost feel like it does." Suddenly, the girl stopped talking and her eyes became slightly downcast. Looking away from Kagome in a startling display of weakness, Kikyo muttered bitterly, "Silly me, there I go saying 'we' again. I'm no longer a part of that world. I'm a part of...this." At the word 'this,' Kikyo gestured lifelessly to the white walls, bed and chairs, suddenly seeming dark in comparison.

Without blinking an eye at the girl's sudden mood change, Kagome stood and stretched her arms, revealing a sliver of her belly as her tank top rose on her ribs. "Keep believing and someday, you'll be a part of the world you want again. Thanks, Kikyo."

Nodding slowly, as was her custom, she said, "Another time, Kagome."

Kagome's footsteps retreated down the hallway and, in her wake, Kikyo couldn't help but smile. There was so much of herself in Kagome, it was hard not to. A good deal of the past had been spent wondering where she could safely put her feet without causing the ice to crack. It was only later that Kikyo learned running ahead of the dangerous fractures was the only way to cross the pond.

For the time being, Rin was allowing Kagome to borrow one of the cars in her garage for transportation purposes. Unfortunately for Kagome, the only other car at Rin's was a beat up 1978 Triumph Spitfire, peeling paint and all. Where it had once been a vibrant red, now only a rather depressing pepto bismol pink remained, running in conjunction with a cracked tail light and feaux fur seat covers. Rin's father had won it at an auction seven year prior, but he'd never done anything with it and offered it to Rin for mechanical experimentation purposes. Seeing as though her friends were into that kind of thing, Mr. Takeyama told Rin they might enjoy tearing the thing apart; unless restored, it wasn't worth much anyway.

Nevertheless, Kagome was very proud of the car and was currently making plans with Inuyasha to fix it up to her liking. It was only about ten minutes between the pysch clinic and the warehouse, so Kagome arrived shortly at headquarters. There was a great number of cars parked outside, but Kagome was used to it by now; for the past two weeks, the Southern cores had been spending all their time at the Fangs' Warehouse, tuning up their vehicles and making plans for Southern Domination at Race Wars. It seemed as though the whole faction was very unified over this event.

When Kagome walked inside, she found the shop completely empty, tools set aside and hoods closed. The only activity was located in the lounge area, where a good twenty people were sitting around Sesshomaru, hanging on his every word as smoke clouded the air; almost everyone was smoking a cigarette or drinking a beer. Ranbou was doing both.

Kagome froze in the doorway, not knowing whether or not she could walk back towards the others. This was gang business, right? And, technically, she wasn't in the gang. She was sitll just an innocent bystander, shuffling her feet to the side of all the excitement and waiting her turn in line. Perhaps RIn and the others just weren't comfortable with her yet. Someday, she hoped, they would offer her a jacket. Someday soon.

Rather bored by the proceedings, Rin sighed and happened to glance over her shoulder, eyes locking on the awkward figure of Kagome by the entrance. Smiling slightly, Rin reached her arm over the back of the couch, beckoning her cousin with one slender finger. A few core members at the back of the ensemble noticed the motion and craned their necks to observe the new comer, smiling and waving at Kagome.

Sesshomaru glanced over the others at Kagome, who was walking quietly towards them, managing to stay almost silently. "Ah, Kagome, come on back."

Burning a rather brilliant red as the entire crowd turned to face her, Kagome masked her embarrasment and smiled, hurrying forward and giving Sesshomaru a nod of recognition. "Hey, sorry."

"Not at all. You've been looking over our records for the past month, you'll most likely have a valid in put on this conversation," Sesshomaru replied, smirking slightly. Returning his amber eyes to the group at large, he continued. "As I was saying, the rules are as they've always been, just use your head, it's all very common sensical. Oh, there is one change this year."

At this, everyone seemed to perk up; normally, meetings concerning Race Wars were boring and long winded, owing to the fact that everyone knew what to expect. They went over the rules annually out of obligation, not out of necessity. When he knew he had everyone's attention, Sesshomaru said, "All of the girls must have a male escort with them at all times, no matter what."

There was a brief silence before the first outraged shriek came. "WHAT!"

Following Sango's outburst, every single girl in the group was standing, eyebrows dangerously low and fists clenched. Rin practically leapt out of her seat, stalking up to Sesshomaru with fire in her stare. Despite the fact that she was only wearing a red bikini top and a pair of leather shorty shorts, the Wildcat's leader managed to look rather intimidating as she poked her boyfriend angrily in the chest.

"Sesshomaru! Why didn't you ask me first? I am absolutely not okay with that!"

Looking distinctly unimpressed, Sesshomaru crossed his naked arms and peered down at his girlfriend with one smoothly cocked eyebrow. "And why do you think I didn't consult you, hm?"

"AGH! We're not some little school girls you can just usher around Race Wars! We know how to take care of ourselves!" Rin shouted, cheeks becoming rather red in her wrath. Sesshomaru was having a rather difficult time focusing on his girlfriend's lips when his eyes were straying to her breasts, her stomach, and yet lower still; she really was tantalizing when anger struck.

"Absolutely! We're big girls now, okay?" Shitora agreed patronizingly, crossing her own pale arms to mirror her brother's. She popped her hip moodily to the side, drawing Ranbou's gaze from where he sat nearby. There was that perfect ass again. He shook his head violently and forced himself to focus on her words instead; she was still ranting quite excitedly. "...and for you to treat us like we've never been in danger before is just gay! I mean, we're in a _gang _for kami's sake! It's not like we've never fought before!"

The Reikon leader smacked his forehead, speaking skillfully around his cigarette. "Sukini, we don't want you fighting at all. We know you know how and that's great, more power to ya, but you girls are smaller than the guys we're trying to protect you from and it's not cool, alright?"

Shitora whirled on Ranbou, who was still leaning back leisurely in his seat, naked chest, glistening with a fine layer of sweat. Ignoring the heat rising to her cheeks, which was consequently not a by product of her annoyance, she argued, "No, not alright! We're not gonna get attacked or something, Kami. We know you're trying to protect us, but we don't need it, alright? We're not gonna get hurt!"

"Sukini, please," Ranbou said quietly, observing Shitora with an eerily calm expression on his face. At the word "please" issuing from the great Ranbou Ookami's mouth, most everyone in the crowd fell silent and exchanged glances. Did Ranbou even know what the word "please" meant?"

After staring angirly at Ranbou for another ten seconds or so, Shitora took her seat, pouting visibly as she did so. There was an awkward silence between the others, but Sesshomaru finally said, "Well, now that that's settled, we need to decide how we're going to work out rides to Tai-Fujishu."

The others nodded while Kagome just wandered around in her own confusion, wondering what Sesshomaru was talking about. The others seemed to understand, however, and a lazy hand shot up to the girl's left. "If someone can get the damn pick-up running, I'll transport."

"In that case, Shippo, it's up to you to get Jakotsu's pick up truck working by next week," Sesshomaru said in Shippo's direction. The kitsune gave a single affirmative nod, earning a grin from Jakotsu, one which contorted his entire face.

"What, this tyke is gonna fix my truck?"

"Trust me, Jakotsu, that kid's got more mechanical genius in his pinky finger than you do in your whole body," Miroku murmured, shaking his head slightly. The Fangs and Wildcats chuckled slightly, as though they carried their own little secret in Shippo; the boy was like their little trump card when it came to cars.

"Alright, we need more trucks," Sesshomaru announced to the others.

Shrugging, Ranbou raised his hand. "You know I got my big ass pick-up, but it's only a two seater." Once upon a time, Ranbou's uncle had worked for a contracting company and, when he bought himself a new truck, he passed down the old one to Ranbou. The question was this: what would an 18 year old boy do with a Ford King Ranch F-350? Simple: let it sit in his garage for a few years until he had a reason to use it.

"That's fine," Sesshomaru replied, shrugging. "We just need the tailgate. Transporting people is the least of our worries."

"I can probably open up the back of my Expedition," Hakkaku mentioned, exchanging glances with Ginta. "It's pretty roomy back there."

"Alright," Sesshomaru agreed. "I think that's all the part transporters were need. As for the rest of you, just get yourselves there, though it would be best if you carpooled."

Everyone nodded and Kagome glanced around, finding that she was the only confused on in the group. Sighing, she glanced over at Inuyasha, who was leaning back lazily in his seat, amber eyes half hooded with boredom. Today, he was wearing black leather pants and was currently shirtless, like most of the boys in the group. It was times like this when Kagome noticed how damn handsome he was and it drove her to madness. How could a being on this planet be so wonderfully delicious looking? It simply wasn't fair.

Despite this, Kagome decided she needed to find out what was going on somehow. "Hey, hey, Yash!"

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, smiling when his gaze fell upon Kagome, who was jogging towards him looking like a goddess in leather pants and a wife beater. He couldn't help but follow the motion of her breasts as she came, bouncing up and down inside the flimsy confines of her bra. Shaking his head clear, Inuyasha said, "Uh, yeah, Kags, what's up?"

Now it had become Shitora's experience that, when guys and girls had superficial conversations, they said one thing and actually meant another. Inuyasha and Kagome were a perfect example and, muffling her laughter, she elbowed Bankotsu in the ribs as they walked. "Hey, check that out."

Bankotsu followed her gaze and snickered, watching the two of them interract with interest. "Dude, he's totally checking out her tits."

"Duh, Inuyasha's a boob man," Shitora replied as though this were old news.

Rolling his crimson eyes plantively, Bankotsu replied, "Aren't we all to a certain extent? But you're right, Inuyasha really does love the titties."

Back with Inuyasha and Kagome, Kagome asked, "Why do we go to Tai Fujishu exactly?"

"Oh, to get parts for Race Wars tune ups," Inuyasha replied, rubbing the back of his silver hair in a rather awkward way. "We do it every year."

"Right," Kagome replied in an equally disfunctional manner. "So, what was that about rides?"

Shitora snorted as she watched the two of them from afar, shaking her head slightly. "Geez, they're so pathetic. I mean, look at that!" Giving her hair a ridiculous toss, pouting her lips, Shitora mocked in a rather bad impression of Kagome's voice, "'Oh, Inu, do you think the others would notice if we started fucking right here, right now?"

Playing along, Bankotsu crossed his arms over his bare chest in a manly fashion. "'Does it matter? Let me ravage you Kagome!"

"'Oh, take me!" Shitora cried, throwing her arms akimbo and offering her chest in Bankotsu's direction.

"' Heck yes I will, right in the back of my gay ass car. Don't leak on the upholstery though, I just got it refinished,'" Bankotsu deadpanned, throwing his long back braid pompously over his shoulder.

"'C'mon, let's make babies,'" Shitora said with a saucy wink, hip checking Bankotsu lightly.

"'We'll have ten kids, Kagome, all for you!'"

"'No, fifteen!'"

"'Twenty!'"

"'I dunno, Yash baby, that's a lot of sex."

"Hehe, _I know."_

Inuyasha and Kagome, completely oblivious to the gruesome play being enacted not fifty feet from them, continued their superficial converation, during which underlying meanings flew back and forth by the dozens. And the difference between men and women became painfully obvious.

"So, rides," Kagome said. _I really want to go with you to Tai Fujishu._

"Yeah, rides," Inuyasha echoed. _Dude, ride with me! _"Do you, um, need one?"

"Oh, uh, no," Kagome replied a little too quickly, not wanting to sound desperate. _Ugh, stupid bitch, just say yes! _"Um, I mean, it would be nice, cause the Triumph is kind of old, you know."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to fix that thing up," Inuyasha said, smiling sheepishly. _Yeah, right, no way. I couldn't fix that heap of shit if you gave me the fuckin' luck of God._

"I know, don't worry about it, you probably couldn't fix it with the luck of God," Kagome replied off handedly, bringing a blush to Inuyasha's cheeks.

"Well, yeah, you could ride with me," Inuyasha continued, trying to avoid her gaze; he felt like a helpless preteen trying to ask someone out. _Ride with me all night long. _

Kagome's smile brightened. "Thanks, Yash, I owe you one." _Unless you say something dicky, then I'll pretend like you never offered._

"No problem. We're all meeting here tomorrow morning at 6, cause it's about a three hour drive and we have to settle some business with the junk yard gang before we just start takin' shit. We'll be out there all day," Inuyasha informed her. _An entire day with Kagome. Fuckin' A!_

"6? Oh boy. Yeah, I'll be here. Thanks again, Yash!" Kagome called, waving as she sauntered off to speak with Rin. _SIX! I'd rather die! Oh well, at least I'll be with Inuyasha. _

And with that, the superficial conversation finally ended. By this time, Bankotsu and Shitora were in absolute stiches and Ranbou scratched his head, cocking an eyebrow at them. "Somethin' funny?"

"Haha, just speculating on Yash and Kags," Shitora replied through her laughter, face alight with smiled. For a moment, Ranbou was frozen, staring at the girl as she laughed; she really didn't show happiness much, unless you called evil grins and cocky smirks signs of happiness. No, she was rather bitter and sharp on the outside. To most people, that is.

"Pft, I think they just need to get the fuck together already," Ranbou said disdainfully, wiping sweat from his forehead. He already had a wrench in his hand, back to work on one of his motorcycles.

"Yeah, well we're on the outside. It's a whole different deal for us; we don't understand half the stuff they're seeing," Bankotsu said wisely, shrugging his muscular shoulders before asking boredly, "Need some help, Ran?"

"I could use some, sure," Ranbou replied with a shrug of his own. "Sukini, come on."

"What? Yeah," Shitora replied airily, still watching her brother's whimsical face as he no doubt pondered about his recent encounter with Kagome. Could they see how ridiculous it was? Or were they blind on the inside?

Shippo was literally elbow deep in the spaghetti mess of Jakotsu's pick up truck and he sighed as yet another grease geiser spurted up from the holy engine. "Holy" is, in this case, used to describe the actually physical condition of the mechanical part for, indeed, it was covered in holes. Shippo wasn't quite sure how one's engine came to be this way, but he thought it best not to ask the obvious question. He was only a mechanic, after all.

The boy shook hair away from his face, finding himself quite annoyed with the length of it; where it had once been a cute toddler's spout, it was now a full length shimmering red ponytail, one which rivaled even his father's. He didn't want to cut it, but at the same time found it troublesome in his work. Before he had more time to fret about his hair, a shout broke the peaceful hum of the warehouse.

"Hiten! Bankotsu!"

Everyone looked up at this shout for it certainly didn't belong to anyone their age. Indeed, a young girl about four inches shorter than Shippo came running into the warehouse, black curls trailing out behind her as her crimson eyes danced with delight. There were assorted calls of, "Hey, Souten," as Hiten's garrulous little sister came bounding in the warehouse, wearing tight little leather pants and her Cobras jacket. It was almost disconserting, Kagome noticed, to see a girl so young dressed in gang attire, but fewer and fewer things were beginning to surprise her these days.

Hiten had since wandered over to assist Ranbou, Shitora and Bankotsu with some motorcycles and glanced up, smiling slightly, "Hey kid. Whatcha want?"

"I won a race! I won a race!" the girl exclaimed, jumping around in excited little circles.

Immediately, the color drained from Bankotsu's face as he bent down to level with the girl, wrench and work momentarily forgotten. "You won a what? A...race?"

"Yeah, against Subaru! I won, I won, I won!" Souten shouted, spinning around with her leather clad arms akimbo, ponytail flying out behind her.

"Souten Mitsarugi!"

As soon as her shouting had began, Souten grew silent and halted all semblances of twirling, glancing fearfully up at the cold, hard eyes of her brother Hiten. The boy crossed his arms over his naked chest, cocking a terrifying eyebrow as he observed her with sharp edged anger. "I told you not to even touch the driver's side of a car or motorcycle until you were at least 15, but you just couldn't wait, could you! 12, Souten! You're 12 years old! God damnit!"

Throwing his arms helplessly up in the air, Hiten turned on his heels and began trying to calm his anger, blowing out a thick stream of air. Seeing that his friend was momentarily unable to continue chastising his sister, Bankotsu took over where the other left off. "Souten, what exactly were you racing? Whose car did you use?"

There was a small silence as Souten grew red in the face, crossing her arms defiantly. "I didn't race a car."

Bankotsu closed his eyes, praying to the Gods for guidance. "Are you telling me you raced motorcycles this morning?"

"Um, yes?"

Sighing, Bankotsu massaged his temples wearily, wondering if this adventure had cost anyone life or limb. Deciding not to ask, he simply said, "You're banned from headquarters and all Cobra activity for two weeks. Suspended. You're suspended."

Souten's jaw practically touched the floor as he crimson eyes widened to the veritable size of dinner plates. "What! Bank, come on!"

"He's letting you off easy!" Hiten exclaimed suddenly, rounding on his sister with a look of pure, unadulterated wrath clouding his eyes. "You oughta be glad I ain't tellin' dad!"

Souten's shoulders drooped visibly under the weight of her punishment. "What am I gonna do for 2 weeks?"

"That's your problem, ain't it?" Hiten bit out cruelly, shaking his head before turning to take a break in the back. Bankotsu rubbed the back of his neck soothingly, glancing around the warehouse at the faces of the others. Most just shook their heads and returned to work, used to Souten's antics and rule breaking behavior, while others hid smiles; Hiten's sister had wormed her way into everyone's hearts one way or another. This wasn't the first time she'd tried to race, either; she'd been pining after motorcycles and cars since she could reach the steering wheel. Hiten had tried to keep her away, at least until a decent age, but once again he'd failed; she was just too headstrong.

Bankotsu decided to join Hiten in the lounge area, leaving Souten in the company of Ranbou and Shitora. Ranbou chuckled. "You beat Subaru, eh?"

The girl's smile widened once more, as though her happiness had never deflated. "Yeah, by a quarter of a wheel!"

Shaking her head, Shitora allowed her fangs to poke through her smile. "Like a young me."

"Do your feet even reach the foot rests?" Ranbou joked, grinning when Souten grew angry and began throwing playful little punches at his midsection.

"Course they do!" she protested, pretending to be angry when she really couldn't stay angry for long; she'd always like Ranbou, especially the way he rode his motorcycle. It was said that Ranbou Ookami was the most reckless motorcycle rider around...or at least he was until Shitora came back.

"Well," Shitora mumbled conspiratorally, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. Finding no one, she whispered,"Keep it up." Giving the girl a quick wink, Shitora turned and began repairing a distributor with Ranbou's input, ignoring the evil snickers coming from Souten behind them.

Eventually, Souten noticed that almost everyone in the warehouse was engaged in some sort of concentrated activity. She knew from days of experience that disturbing mechanics was practically a death wish and, sighing bitterly, she prepared to leave until she caught a bright shock of red hair in the corner of her eye. Ayame was with Kouga on the other side of the warehouse, so who was this mysterious red head? Blinking curiously, the girl leaned back on her heels, trying to get a better view of the secretive mechanic on the otherside of the pick up's hood.

"Shippo."

Practically leaping out of her skin, Souten clasped a hand to her chest and stared caustically at Sango. "Don't _do _that!"

"Sorry," Sango replied with a light hearted shrug. "I just noticed you staring and thought I'd englighten you. See ya." With that, Sango turned on her heels and walked towards Miroku, striking up one of their infamously long conversations as they continued their own tireless work.

Souten blinked, rolling the name silently around in her mouth. Finally, bored of the silence around her, she began meandering rather slowly in Shippo's direction. She was able to catch a better look at the Kitsune as she appeared at the side of the truck, taking caution to be extra quiet; if he didn't seem worth her while, she was just going to sneak away. She caught a sight of piercing green eyes and a rather good looking face, which ran in conjunction with a taut, sinewy body out of league with most 12 year olds. Suddenly intimidated, she was about to turn away when a voice held her in place.

"Going somewhere? You didn't even say hello."

Wincing, Souten turned rather slowly to face Shippo. She blinked, glancing around; he hadn't looked up from his work, so she assumed he wasn't actually speaking to her, but there was no one around them for another twenty feet. When she said nothing, the voice continued, "It's me, I'm just concentrating on this engine. I have to install and entirely new one today, you know. This guy put a bunch of holes in it somehow."

This time, Souten actually saw his lips move in conjunction with the words. She blinked; how had he noticed her when he hadn't even looked up? "Uh, yeah, Jakotsu rides it pretty hard," she agreed, trying to act casual as she closed the gap between them, turning to observe the car rather interestedly. "Put in a V6; he'd be so pissed, I'd love to see that," she giggled.

Grinning, Shippo shook his head and wiped sweat from his brow. "Maybe you would, but all I would see would be the end of my job."

"Are the Fangs real strict like everyone says?" Souten asked curiously.

This provoked a snort from Shippo. "They make me get here at a certain time and I don't leave until I'm done. If you call that strict, then I guess so."

"That's more than the Cobras do," Souten said, rolling her crimson eyes plantively. "I mean, Bank always says, 'fix what you can, but don't fuck up; we'll send it over to Sesshomaru's guys.' I figured you guys must be real intense or something."

"Naw," Shippo grunted out, using all his strength to tighten a rather troublesome bolt. "We're just..." he trailed off, exerting his entire muscle on the machine,"...good."

"How modest of you," Souten joked, giving Shippo a light punch to the arm.

The kitsune just smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty modest. Won't lie."

When he smiled, Souten felt a sudden shock of familiarity; narrowing her eyes, she peered curiously at him. "Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar."

"Do I? I look like my mom and dad," Shippo offered, shrugging his naked shoulders easily. "Kei and Nanashi, maybe you know em."

At this, Souten's jaw practically came unhinged from her neck. "_The _Kei and Nanashi?" she asked, voice rising three octaves above its normal pitch. Bankotsu and the others still told stories from the old times, back when the Fangs and Wildcats were new on the streets, back when Kei and Nanashi reigned supreme. They were fair, just, wild, free, and paid heed to no rules. Simply, they were the epitome of cool.

"Yeah," Shippo murmured, picking through several screwdrivers before he came to the correct one. "That's them."

"That's so cool! Did they teach you how to ride and drive and smoke an-"

"No," Shippo broke in, smiling slightly at the girl's enthusiasm. "They're just mom and dad to me. I mean, they taught me about mechanics and the way things work, but really they didn't tell me much about other stuff. Well, besides the gangs. They told me everything from back then, so that could be considered 'teaching' I suppose." The boy mused over his own words, not seeming to notice Souten's obvious disdain.

"Geez, you talk like you're already my dad's age," she noted crassly, shaking her head. "You got a big vocabulary."

Shippo shrugged. "A lawyer and a doctor; I had to learn something from them, right?"

Nodding as though this were all plausible, Souten suddenly spit in her hand, holding it out to Shippo. "I'm Souten Mitsarugi."

The kitsune eyed her hand for a moment and Souten watched him curiously; if he took the hand, he was worth her time. If he didn't, he was just another scab in the crowd of true gang members. Finally, Shippo spat in his own hand, shaking hands with the girl as though this were completely ordinary. "Shippo Sasuga. Pleased to meet you."

As Sango and Miroku worked busily away on their car, they conversed in hushed tones about their previous night's bet; who would be the first to notice their relationship? Inuyasha or Ayame?

"I'm telling you, he's been my best friend since we could jack tires, he'll figure it out," Miroku protested quietly in Inuyasha's defense.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Please, baby. He's not dumb, but he's not observent either. Ayame's the quiet observer type; she'll figure it out right off."

Glancing over his shoulder at Kouga and Ayame, Miroku choked back a laugh; they were currently giggling their way through hurried kisses beneath the hood of an Eclipse, obviously presuming their actions were unseen. "Yeah, the quiet observer. Right," he murmured. "Who knows, we might be thrown a curveball. Life is full of curveballs."

"I don't think we can expect curveballs when its 110 plus degress outside," Sango reasoned shaking her head.

Farther back in the warehouse, Inuyasha accepted a wrench gratefully from Kagome's hand, working busily away at someone's Masarati import. "That should do it," he announced, ducking skillfully out from beneath the hood and wiping his hands together triumphantly.

Kagome smiled briefly before turning her attention back to Miroku and Sango. "Is something up with them? Sango and Miroku?" she asked curiously. "They look really...happy."

"Why shouldn't they be?" Inuyasha snorted, barely even casting his best friend a glance. "They're doin' alright, ain't they?"

Kagome shrugged. "Good point. Just a happy day, I guess."

Over near the West wall, Ayame choked back another giggle as Kouga snatched a kiss beneath the hood of the Eclipse. Green eyes twinkling, she whispered, "Stop it, Ko! We're supposed to be working!"

"All work and no play makes Kouga a pissed off motherfucker," the boy murmured with a devilish smirk, snaking his arms around the redhead's slender, naked waist; everyone had shed their shirts by this point, boys going top naked and girls in their sports bras.

Over Kouga's shoulder, Ayame could clearly make out the joyful faces of Miroku and Sango as they chatted merrily away, having a go at their vehicle simultaneously. She observed them for a moment before giving a faint smile. "Sango and Miroku look so comfortable with each other. They'll be going out soon for sure."

"Course they will," Kouga snorted gruffly. "He's been in love with her since forever, you know."

Ayame sighed, gazing full into her boyfriend's ice blue eyes. "Minus the whole groping thing, he's quite the romantic, Miroku."

"True," Kouga agreed, nodding agreeably. "But you know what the problem with all that gooshy romance crap is?" When Ayame shook her head confusedly, Kouga ducked down until their lips almost touch. "There ain't enough of this." With these words, he claimed her lips and their kiss grew heated, deep enough to the point where Hakkaku and Ginta, working on a car next door, excused themselves to drown their sorrows in a beer, or several beers, in the lounge area.

Rin let out a weary sigh, tipping her chair back on two legs; she and Sesshomaru were currently pouring over reports, as was ususal. On days like today, it was positively too hot to even dream of organizing papers, nevertheless completing them. Sesshomaru, sitting across from her, didn't seem to notice the heat as he dialed something into the calculator, observing the number over his spectacles before jotting it down on a finance chart. Rin was observing the warehouse upside down, head flipped all the way backward, when Miroku and Sango came into her line of vision. They were laughing at something, enjoying each other's company a little more than was normal.

The girl furrowed her brow and was about to say something to Sesshomaru when she overbalanced the chair and sent herself toppling backwards. She prepared herself for the fall, but a sudden strength prevented her from touching the cement; daring to open her eyes, Rin took in the face of Sesshomaru, who looked slightly amused by all of this, directly above her. Tipping her back forward, he gave his girlfriend a bemused smile.

"Lost in thought?" he said dryly, quirking an eyebrow.

Rin furrowed her brow, crossing her arms huffily. "Don't be so smug about it, it's too hot for smugness. I was just watching Miroku and Sango. They look...different today."

Sesshomaru cast Miroku and Sango a glance, watching them disinterestedly for a few moments, before he said dully, "Indeed." With this word alone, Sesshomaru took his seat and scratched absently at the left side of his bare chest, adjusting his spectacles before returning to his work. Deciding it wasn't worth her time either, Rin shrugged and vowed to give her own paperwork some attention. It needed to be done by Race Wars.

"And I think I'm done," Ranbou concluded, throwing his arms akimbo as he glanced curiously at his handiwork; the motorcycle seemed to be in tip top shape, but he wouldn't presume it so until Shitora took a look. She had a habit of catching the finer points while he was more of a big picture sort of person. "Take a look, Sukini."

Shitora was just about to proclaim the machine finished with when she caught a glimpse of something strange out of the corner of her eye. Turning slowly to face the scene, the hanyou girl drank in the scene before her; Miroku and Sango were talking quite normally working busily away at a car and occassionally sneaking glances at one another. Shitora furrowed her brow.

"Hey, wolf boy, check those two out."

Ranbou glanced over Shitora's much shorter head at Miroku and Sango, watching them interract for a while. Unlike the other boys, Ranbou seemed rather interested in the way the two regarded each other. "Well ain't that somethin. They weren't like that yesterday."

"I know!" Shitora exclaimed, gesturing to them with one pale, clawed hand. "They're lookin' at each other funny, giggling, acting all giddy, like they've known each other forever. I mean, I know they have, but they never acted like it before."

The wolf demon nodded, ice blue eyes narrowed in stern thought. He crossed his muscular arms over his tan chest, moving his eyebrows in strange ways before he finally said, "I think they're goin' out."

Shitora's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hair as she continued watching her two friends, noticing a new element which seemed to have magically appeared in their relationship overnight. "You know what, I think you're right."

Deciding not to beat around the bush, Ranbou said reasonably, "Well, let's go ask."

"Sure thing," Shitora agreed, carrying a grease rag with her as she wiped her hands off routinely.

Sango glanced up from the car's engine, blinking when she saw Ranbou and Shitora standing mere feet away from her. Exchanging glances with Miroku, she asked rather awkwardly, "Yeah? What's up, you two?"

"We just noiced somethin' funny about you guys," Ranbou mentioned, shrugging his great shoulders.

"Yeah, you goin' out?" Shitora continued, crossing her arms questioningly.

There was a great silence between the four of them as Miroku and Sango furrowed their brows; this certainly wasn't going according to plan. According to the plan, the smart people would notice their relationship and bring it up quietly, not wanting to intrude upon them. Shitora and Ranbou were supposed to be, well, the stupid ones; where did they get off noticing before people like Sesshomaru and Ayame?

"Um, yeah, we are," Miroku answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, good for you guys," Shitora said with a smile. "Alright then, that was all. See you guys later."

Ranbou gave them a wave before he and the white haired girl trekked back to their motorcycle, cleaning up their discarded parts as though this were all rather common place. Sango turned to Miroku, voicing the obvious question. "Well, we both lost the bet. What does that mean?"

Miroku smirked, closing the gap between them until their noses were almost touching; Sango grew rather red as she felt the heat of Miroku's breath on her cheeks. Winking, he replied, "It means we both get to wash the other's car in our bathing suits. Together."

And alas, life threw a curveball.

**And another chapter! This one isn't short or anything, but it seemed to go by quickly. I'm not sure why, it just did. Thanks everybody for your awesome reviews, we passed 110! I never dreamed this story would get so far, it's the best I've ever done review wise! Weee! It's so fulfilling!**

**KOLU**


	19. Tai Fujishu

**Oh boy, moving right along guys. This is progressing nicely, I feel, but if you feel like something is dragging behind, please let me know. This is all about growing as a writer, right? Help me blossom! That was a little gay. Lol.**

Famous nineteenth century businessman William Feather once said, "Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious." This seemed to be the general feeling in the Taisho household around 5:45 on this Friday morning for, not only had all three silver haired children been galavanting about with gangsters late into their Thursday night, they were also unaccustomed to rising this early in the first place.

Sesshomaru was, as always, the first Taisho up and out of bed. He was currently brushing his teeth in the mirror, careful to bring his fangs to a delicate shine, before rinsing his mouth and waltzing boredly towards his closet. He was currently wearing only his boxers and decided the remedy the situation with a pair of baggy, faded jeans and a tight black t-shirt. Glancing in the mirror, he sighed almost wearily; he hadn't worn this particular t-shirt in quite sometime and, over the year in which he'd ignored the shirt, he'd obtained quite a few arm and chest muscles which hadn't been there previously. Now, his scultped arms caused the sleeves to stretch and fit like spandex while his six pack and well formed pecs bulged visibly through the fabric. Despite this, Sesshomaru grabbed his Fangs jacket and exited his room, flipping off the light with little or no interest in his appearance.

Instead of going downstairs for breakfast, Sesshomaru meandered down the hall and pushed open Inuyasha's door, which was slightly ajar. Deciding not to weather the room's many perils, including carelessly thrown about clothes and a few festering experiments on the counter, he just called gruffly, "Inuyasha, get up. If you're not up and ready to go in five minutes, I'm leaving you."

The lump on the bed gave a slight shudder and then a moan, revealing a rather irritated Inuyasha rolling over in his recently wakened state. Deciding this would suffice, Sesshomaru retreated from the chaos of his brother's bedroom and continued waltzing down the hall, coming to his sister's open doorway. Sesshomaru peered inside, finding the room moderately clean, except for a few strewn about car magazines on the floor near the window. The room was hardly feminine, with its car posters and trick bike icons decorating the walls, but Sesshomaru was used to this; Shitora had never been the typical "girly" girl so to speak.

On the bed, Shitora was on her stomach, face buried in her pillow, clad in a matching black sports bra and boy cut short set; her chest was rising and falling softly. Regarding his sister with a certain softness in his smile, Sesshomaru sat down on the edge of the bed and gave Shitora's shoulder a shake, murmuring, "Tora, get up. We have to leave."

"Mmmmmf, why?"

"We're going to Tai Fujishu, remember?" Sesshomaru replied, chuckling softly.

"Can't move, leave me lone," came Shitora's muffled response; after this, there was no movement from the silver faired, furry eared girl.

Sesshomaru sighed, running a hand through his hair as he continued trying to rouse his sister. Shitora was one of those beings who needed a set amount of sleep and, for this reason, she normally slept in on Friday mornings after their Thursday night excursions. The rest of the core members were strong, hearty young men who could get up and go at a moment's notice, but Sesshomaru sometimes forgot that his sister was still a little girl in some respects. She acted two or three years her senior, but she was just 16. Almost 17, he reminded himself quietly. Almost 17.

At that moment, Inuyasha came wandering in with his jacket slung over his shoulder, wearing jeans and a white wife beater. "What's wrong with her?" he asked rudely, waltzing over to the bed and yelling, "Shitora, up. We gotta go."

Shitora made a sort of whimpering sound. "C'mon, guys, please..."

The brothers exchanged glances, finding it increasingly more difficult to say no to their darling baby sister; even Inuyasha's harsh resolve was wavering slightly. Finally, Sesshomaru said, "Alright, Shitora. Get dressed and you can sleep in the car, we'll wake you up in Tai Fujishu."

The girl was quite for a moment before she finally sat up, rubbing her large amber eyes, white ears drooping. "Okay," she murmured huskily, stumbling to her feet and grabbing a pair of loose jeans from the closet, pulling them on and not bothering to button or zip them. She then donned a red wifebeater and lazily grabbed a comb from the dresser, running it through her silken silver hair a few times without the mirror. This done, she began tripping her way out of the room, followed by Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's amused glances.

"Get her shoes and I'll get her jacket," Sesshomaru murmured, muffling a chuckle into his hand.

"Right," Inuyasha agreed, grinning.

By the time the brothers arrived downstairs, Shitora was asleep in the front seat of Sesshomaru's Saleen, snuffling softly in her sleep. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, climbing in the backseat with a pointed look in his brother's direction. Sesshomaru just shrugged and started the engine, pulling out of the driveway and heading towards the warehouse.

When they arrived at 6:01, the others were already there, fearing Sesshomaru's cold and quiet wrath should they be late. The nearby ocean made most Tokyo mornings rather chilly and most were wearing their jackets on their backs, rubbing sleep from their eyes and conversing in hushed tones. It was far too early for noise.

Kagome blinked, shaking her head to keep herself from nodding off again. She was leaning against Rin's convertible in loose jeans and a black wifebeater, looking like one of the gang if not for her conspicuous lack of jacket. Rin was dozing beside her, ignoring the conversation being carried on against Sango's Honda across from her. Ayame and Sango seemed awake for the most part, only giving themselves shakes every once and a while.

Kouga and Miroku, however, looked as though they'd seen better days. Kouga was straddling his parked motorcycle, arms folded on the handlebars as he snoozed. Miroku was sitting on the gravel floor, head against the driver's side door of his Spyder. His violet eyes were closed softly, arms crossed as he dreamed of his beloved Sango. Ranbou lay sleepily in the back of his F-350 pick-up, staring up at the barely painted morning sky. Hiten was layed out on the roof of his Expedition, doing much the same as Ranbou, while Jakotsu and Bankotsu marveled over the miracles performed on the pick-up; Shippo really was a mechanical genius.

When Sesshomaru pulled up, the others snapped to attention, trying to look awake and alive but failing miserably. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru exited the car, stretching briefly before approaching the circle of girls. Rin yawned a little, covering her small mouth as she walked towards her boyfriend, giving him a slow morning embrace while he kissed the top of her head.

"Good morning," he said placidly.

"Mmff," came her muffled response against his chest. Blinking, she pulled back and stared at his shirt. "Wow. That's a...nice shirt, Sesshy. A really nice shirt. Wear that shirt more often."

Chuckling, Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow and asked teasingly, "Rin, are you checking me out?"

"Yeah, I am," came Rin's giggling reply as she buried her head deeper into his embrace.

Inuyasha had since wandered inside and grabbed a pair of keys from the combination lock box in the back, strutting over to a plain black Corvette in the corner, one which the Fangs used for generic purposes. Starting up the engine, Inuyasha drove skillfully out of the warehouse and parked in the driveway by the others, killing the engine for the time being. This done, he wandered over the girls and struck up a conversation with his ride partner.

"Our ride, I presume?" Kagome asked sleepily, scrubbing at her cheeks in a weary way.

Inuyasha shrugged, nodding. "That's her, the Fangmobile. Just kept it around for some reason."

Kagome choked out a laugh. "The Fangmobile? Fuck no. I refuse to ride in anything called the Fangmobile."

But Inuyasha just gave her a Fanged grin. "Hey, cut that out, I love the Fangmobile. It's a great machine. Besides that, its got a built in ash tray."

"I suddenly love the Fangmobile."

"That's what I thought."

Currently, Sesshomaru was consulting with Sango and Miroku, his two head mechanics and Tai Fujishu frequenters; on monthly gang meeting days, they were always part scouting in Tai Fujishu and knew more about it than anyone, except for maybe Sesshomaru himself. Rin stood quietly to the side, not trusting herself to speak in her weary state.

"We have the list, contact numbers, and enough cash to get us through most situations," Miroku announced.

"And I've got a bunch of tools," Sango entered in.

"And I've got the beer," Miroku finished.

Nodding, Sesshomaru turned to the group at large and called, "Everyone, let's head out."

There were assorted affirmative murmurs as ride partners began pairing off and climbing into vehicles. Ranbou stretched his muscular limbs, lawning animalistcally before hopping out of the tailgate and gazing around the group. "Hey Shomo, where's Sukini?" he asked after a moment, missing that familiar head of shimmering white hair.

"In the Saleen," Sesshomaru replied, breaking out of a last minute conversation with Kouga. "She's asleep, just grab her." This said, he returned his attention to Kouga, acting as though this were not at all out of the ordinary.

Sighing, Ranbou jogged lazily to the passenger's seat of the Saleen and glanced inside, shaking his head; Shitora was curled up in a little ball, hair falling gracefully over her face as she slept, wrapped up in jeans and her jacket. After opening the door, he managed to reach inside and scoop her up into his arms, closing the door with his foot as he moved absently towards the pick up. Shitora mumbled slightly in her sleep, burrowing her head against Ranbou's chest and sighing contentedly. For one of the first times he could recall, Ranbou's face grew rather red and he blinked away the heat of his blush. Why the hell was he blushing? It was just Sukini, right? God, she was light. And man was she warm, like a little heater. She sure would keep him warm on a cold night...crap. Blinking away these thoughts, Ranbou settled the girl down in the pick-up's passenger's seat, strapping her in accomodatingly before hopping over the hood to the driver's door. This was going to be a long, quiet trip. Or so he surmised.

After about an hour of driving, the group was out on the open highway between towns, traveling at a high speed within common sensical limits. Yawning, Inuyasha blinked and focused on the yellows dividing lines, watching them pass with little or no interest, 11, 12, 13, until he lost count. Kagome had fallen asleep in the front seat during the first ten minutes of their trip and, while this bored Inuyasha to tears, he had to admit she was beautiful when she slept. Of course she was beautiful when she was awake, but asleep...no one could compare.

Sighing, Inuyasha reached down to grab a box of cigarettes from the console and dug around in a pocket for his lighter, nearly jumping out of his skin when a hand appeared, holding one beneath the smoke. He blinked and shot Kagome a thankful glance, wondering how she'd woken up without him noticing. She just smiled, brown eyes refreshed and thankful for her much needed hour of sleep. Inuyasha took a drag on his newly lighted cigarette, exhaling the smoke out the partially cracked window as a warm, consoling feeling washed over him.

Kagome too retrieved a cigarette and lit it, deciding to take advantage of the Fangmobile's built in ash tray. "How far to go?" she asked.

"Another two hours at least," Inuysha replied, never removing his eyes from the road. "Tai Fujishu rocks, but it's so fucking far away."

"I like car trips, though," Kagome said, smiling slightly as she watched the passing countryside; a good deal of it was rice fields, green and rich. "I could sit here and watch the landscape the entire time, probably."

Inuyasha couldn't help but grin a little. "Really? I get restless a lot. Don't know what to do with myself I guess."

Chuckling, Kagome responded wistfully, "I just don't do anything. It's pretty sad that I can occupy myself for that long, I guess."

"Not really. You'll never be bored," Inuyasha reasoned, grinning shamelessly.

This only provoked a snort from Kagome, who dug out her cell phone and glanced at the Spyder in front of the Fangmobile. "Since you're being so mean, I'm going to call Sango and see what she's up to."

Sango and Miroku were, consequently, playing a game of "I spy" while Miroku manned the wheel of his Mistubishi Spyder, smiling at the girl beside him. They were just looking for something blue when Sango felt her cell phone vibrating in her pocket, whipping it out, she answered brusquely, "Sango Tajiya," without bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hey there, byotch," came Kagome's laughing voice.

"Hey, slut," Sango replied easily, earning a raised eyebrow from Miroku. He was certainly confused when she mouthed "Kagome" in his direction; why was she calling her good friend a slut? He would never truly understand girls.

"I'm really bored," Kagome sighed. "The company in this car sucks."

Sango could hear Inuyasha's high pitched protests on her end and giggled. "Oh Kagome, you're such a tease. Playing hard to get, then?"

"Hardly," Kagome snorted, rolling her eyes. "Let's get the other girls on a conference call."

Sango obliged quickly and dialed up Rin on the speed dial, interrupting her as she and Sesshomaru played a rather dirty version of the awkward game. Currently, Sesshomaru's hand was sliding up Rin's thigh, coming dangerously close to her panty line, when her phone began whirring in the cup holder. "Lemme get that," she squeaked out, earning a heavy sigh from her boyfriend.

"Hello?" she answered, sounding flushed.

"Rin, it's Sango and Kagome. Dial up Aya, would you?"

"Yeah, sure," Rin said, glad for a distraction; getting it on in the car wasn't exactly her idea of the perfect romance. She hit Ayame's number and listened as it rang, once twice, before her friends answered.

"City morgue, you stab em, we slab em," Ayame answered jokingly, earning a groan from Kouga.

"Oh, c'mon baby, that's so old," he chuckled, shaking his head slightly at his girlfriend's antics.

Ayame just stuck out her tongue before answering Rin's screeching and numerous "helloooo, Ayas." "Rin, I'm here, just messing with my dumbass boyfriend."

"Aren't we all?" Sango interrupted, earning giggles from the others; there they were, carrying on a conversation about their boyfriends, while all of them sat obliviously in the driver's seats. It was so deliciously naughty!

"Hit Shitora up," Kagome requested, wanting to continue their phone chain.

Obligingly, Ayame dialed Shitora's number and waited for the youngest Taisho to answer the phone. In the front seat of Ranbou's pick up truck, Shitora hadn't risen once the entire trip. Only when her phone began ringing obnoxiously, sending the chorus of Sublime's "Wrong Way" echoing through the cabin, did she awaken. Grumbling, she shifted her snowy white head and fumbled for her phone, answering it without opening her eyes. "Hullo?"

"Tora! It's Kags, Sango, Rin and Aya."

"Okay, yeah, hey, wh-" For the first time, Shitora glanced around the cabin and blinked. "Dude, where am I?"

Ranbou, who was watching this all with interest, shrugged his shoulders while simultaneously keeping his hands steady on the wheel. "We're on the road. Have been for an hour now."

Glancing over at Ranbou, Shitora nodded sleepily and returned to her phone conversation. "Uh, yeah, hi."

"Geez, somebody just woke up," Rin snorted.

"You haven't woken up this whole time?" Sango questioned. "I'm...kind of impressed. Ranbou even picked you up and carried you to the truck. You didn't wake up then? Sheesh."

At this news, Shitora grew rather red in the face. Gulping, she whispered hoarsely, "Say what?"

"Yeah, he carried you from Yash's car to yours," Kagome confirmed, sounding resolute. "We all saw it. Too bad you weren't awake, huh? I bet you would've enjoyed it."

The other girls cracked up and a heavy blush rose to Shitora's cheeks. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, get over it doll, you two are practically screwing already," Rin said crassly.

"Rin!" Ayame protested shrilly. "Don't listen to them, Tora. Just take your time, you're on no one's schedule but your own."

"That's right, don't let them pressure you into dating," Sango advised.

Thoroughly heated, Shitora grunted out, "I don't know what the fuck you all are smoking, but you're talkin' bull shit. Later." And with that, she hung up the phone with one push of the button, proud of her efforts in defending her honor. Too bad she'd barely gotten in a word edgewise.

Raising one dark eyebrow questioningly, Ranbou glanced at the girl beside him as she crossed her small arms and pouted angrily, staring out the window at the passing scenery with a hard eye. He had to admit, she looked incredibly cute like that, but he knew his ideals would only earn him a slap in the face and a few well placed curse words.

Deciding to keep his opinion to himself, the wolf demon asked sarcastically, "So, not in good with the girls?"

Shitora snorted, replying stiffly, "More like they ain't in good with me. I mean, seriously, is all girls do gossip? Don't they got anything better to do? Why do people gotta be goin' out all the time? It's gay!"

Ranbou shook his head slowly, ice blue eyes focused on the highway. "They're bored with their own lives so they gotta make up shit about someone elses. And relationships make interesting news."

"Yeah, well, why don't they bug Kagome then?" Shitora all but exploded, throwing her arms akimbo and consequently hitting the window. Rubbing her smarting hand, the girl continued, "She and Yash are like dogs in heat!"

"Which, thank God, is nothing like wolves in heat," Ranbou picked up smoothly. "I wouldn't want to witness that for anything."

"And I mean, maybe I ain't interested in a relationship or somethin'!" Shitora continued, sounding as though she hadn't heard Ranbou's musings at all.

At these words, Ranbou felt his heart waver ever so slightly; was she really not interested in a relationship? Did she mean with anyone or just with someone of her friends' choosing? Snorting quietly, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. What did he care anyway? It was just Sukini, the annoying little skinny girl who tagged along behind the boys. She wasn't beautiful, nor was she funny, nor was she smarter than hell and quietly kind. As he thought these things, Ranbou managed to prevent himself from looking Shitora in the eye. One look and he would be forced to admit the truth: all of those things were flat out lies.

Remembering the question spat so venemously in his direction, Ranbou answered flatly, "If you don't want a relationship, you don't gotta have one. Simple as that."

"Right, exactly!" Shitora exclaimed, rolling her eyes to the sky as she threw her hands askew. "Why can't they get that! I mean, you and me get it. Why can't they?"

Ranbou didn't answer, knowing this question was mostly rhetorical in the first place; by this time, Shitora was mostly ranting for her own personal ease of mind. Sighing bitterly at her own unanswered questions, Shitora muttered, "What the hell is so great about relationships anyway? It's just one more thing to worry about, when you think about it. Nickelback and I agree; just 'another hole in the head.'"

At this, Ranbou seemed to escape from his self created gloom, blinking. "Nickelback? You listen to Nickelback?"

Shitora raised her eyebrows, informing him proudly, "Every single day! I love them."

"Well hell, Sukini, turn on the CD player," Ranbou chuckled, removing one hand from the wheel and beginning to drive with only his right palm. By this time, the caravan of cars was out in the middle of the country, not another car but themselves for miles.

Giving the driver a puzzled glance, Shitora reached out her hand and hit the play button, eyes widening as the strains of overdriven guitar and Chad Kroeger filled her ears; it was Nickelback's newest CD, Fight for All the Right Reasons. Nearly jumping out of her skin with delight, Shitora grinned and began clapping her hands like a child with a brand new toy. "HOLY CRAP! NICKELBACK!"

Rolling his eyes, Ranbou chukled slightly and said, "The only shit I'll listen to these days."

"Seriously, better than the Pussycat Dolls or whatever," Shitora mumbled, shuddering at the thought.

But yet the Pussycat Dolls reminded Ranbou of one very special night in weeks past, one where the boys caught the girls dancing around half naked, covered in chocolate. Smirking devilishly, he said silkily, "Oh, you mean those dirty songs you girls danced to in your underwear?"

At the very mention of that night, Shitora blushed a bright red and pulled her knees up to her chest, burying her head in her legs. "Can we not talk about that? Ever?" It was then, for the first time, that Shitora understood the full implications of Ranbou witnessing her in her underwear. It was a pretty intimate situation, when she thought about it. Besides that, she wondered what he thought about it. _Not that I care what he thinks about me in my underwear, _Shitora told herself blushingly, _I just wonder if he thinks about it a lot. I mean, me in my underwear. My friends and I in our underwear, not just me, he was looking at them too. Right? Not that I would want that. I mean, no, not that I _wouldn't _want that. Not that I give a two shilling shit...I mean...GOD DAMN IT. _

"Aw, why not?" Ranbou teased, enjoying her embarassment thoroughly. "C'mon now, you looked hot in all that black lace. Or should I say in what there was of that black lace; wasn't much, I don't think."

Shitora's eyes widened to roughly the size of a truck wheel. "B-black lace? No, I was wearing...was I?"

Ranbou nodded firmly. "Black lace, Sukini. Jumping around, covered in chocolate and ice cream."

There are many statements in this world which few have an answer to and many don't care to answer. This happened to be one of those comments and, for one of the first times in recorded history, Shitora Taisho was completely lost for words. She resembled a cod fish as her mouth opened and closed blankly, sentences and syllables failing her, until she finally just sat back against the chair, knowing the only way to combat embarrassment was with more embarassment.

"Well, you looked good wet too."

Ranbou blinked, feeling a slight brush rise to his cheeks; that was right, the boys had been running around so unceremoniously in the sprinklers...how had he forgotten that? Shaking away these feelings, he murmured, "Yeah, thanks Sukini."

But Shitora was too busy singing along to the next track, bobbing her head slightly as she stared out the window; it would appear that their conversation was over.

Kagome felt her mouth go slightly dry as she observed the wonders of Tai Fujishu; no matter what the others might've told her beforehand, she never would have suspected a place like this. Tai Fujishu was, in fact, the name of the junk yard. All this time, she'd been imagining it to be a town or a village, but the sign above the garage read "Tai Fujishu." The landscape was very strange, as there didn't appear to be human or demon life outside of this place for a dozen kilometers at least, but Kagome was too busy staring at the men walking forth from the shop.

"Sesshomaru!" one of them called in a surprisingly brusque Scottish accent, waving his hairy arm happily.

Nearly swallowing her tongue, Kagome murmured, "Um...Inuyasha?" Normally, Kagome wouldn't be so hesitant around new people...these new people just happened to be rather strange looking.

The tallest, who towered somewhere around 6 feet 7 inches, was roughly the build of Ranbou with his bulging muscles and broad shoulders, but unlike most other men, he was completely covered from head to foot in hair. All technicalities considered, it was acutally fur, but Kagome was too stunned by the reddish brown mass of it to bother with particulars. He had a pleasant look on his face, which was perhaps the most startling thing about him; it was that of a fox. This creature was a walking, talking fox completely with bushy white tipped tail, charming fangs and pert little ears atop his head. He wore a green vest and a pair of black pants, though his feet resembled the hind legs of his breed and stuck out a good deal beneath the cuff. Kagome glanced around at her friends and noticed they showed no fear nor surprise at this being's appearance so, in kind, she tried to swallow her fear; just because he looked different didn't mean he was bad, right?

Instinctively, as the creature neared, Kagome latched on to Inuyasha's arm, lips paling visibly. Inuyasha glanced down and cocked an eyebrow. "Kagome?" he aksed quietly, obviously not understanding her trepidation.

"Yes?" she replied in a strangely high pitched voice.

Inuyasha followed her unblinking gaze to the approaching fox man and gave a small sound of understanding, murmuring, "You've never seen Niku Youkai have you?"

"Niku?" Kagome echoed, confusedly.

Nodding sagely, Inuyasha explained, "Niku means 'meat', right? Well, in the early days of youkai, all of them looked like this, true and bred in their pure form. There are very few of them left, since some species began to evolve based on where they lived and what they ate, so there weren't many other Niku to breed with. Even Sesshomaru probably has a little human in him, but not enough to make a difference; there's hanyou, youkai, and then there's Niku. Compared to even Kouga, Ranbou or Shomo's strength, Niku are the strongest there are. Since people obviuosly couldn't handle their looks, though, they keep to themselves out here most of the time. They're the same as us in here," Inuyasha said, thumping his chest with his free arm, "But just a little different out here." This time, he gestured to his body.

Blinking, Kagome tried to process this information as she kept her eyes glued to the fox man, who was currently shaking hands...er, paws, with Sesshomaru. The two were smiling, Sesshomaru in an albeit reserved way, speaking as though they'd known each other for years. "How come I've never heard of them before?"

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders, teasing lightly, "Cause you lived in a box? I don't know, Kags, they're not exactly a secret. We don't talk about em too much, though, cause they just stay out in the countryside like this and don't come into town. What's to talk about?"

As Inuyasha said this, the two beings following at the fox man's heels came walking towards him, grinning widely with their many rows of fiersome teeth. Kagome shied away slightly, but Inuyasha untangled his arm from her grasp and wrapped it tightly around her waist, giving it a light squeeze to reassure her. This done, he addressed the creatures before him. "Hey, Teki, Outai. How's life?"

The first of the two, being Teki, was roughly four inches taller than the fox and a startling heavenly white, one which offset the daring crimson of his eyes. He was, like Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, descendant of the dog, though in a more precise manner; his snout was shorter than that of his comrades, sporting a wet black nose, and a soft white tail which wagged rather humorously behind him, escaping the seat of his pants through a strategically placed hole. His clothes were simple and quite human, loose jeans and a white wifebeater, but he himself looked anything _but _human.

"Inuyasha!" he cried, voice resemblant of an eighteen year old boy, not deep and gravelly as Kagome had expected. Teki through his clawed arms wide, giving Inuyasha what Kagome perceived as a smile. "Roual gar yick garsh lawroo?"

At this, Kagome felt her mind stop turning for a brief moment; was the Niku speaking nonsense? That couldn't possibly be her language, or else his vocabulary far surpassed hers to the point where he could speak a sentence without any recognizable words. Inuyasha, however, seemed to understand him and responded back with a rather easy going, "Eh, goa. Yar rowula grishna."

Teki exploded with laughter, seeming not to care that Inuyasha's eyebrows were lowered and his face looked anything but pleased. The second creature, Outai, gave a derisive snort, turning directly to Ranbou, Kouga and Ayame who were residing about two feet to Kagome's right. "Foolish dogs, always trying to prove themselves by speaking their tongue in public."

This man was distinctly different from Teki in that he was a shining midnight black wolf, well groomed yet with a sort of wild tousle to his hair. His ears were decidedly longer and sharper, pointed more so than Teki's, and his piercing yellow eyes seemed to bored there way right through Kagome's body. She daren't think what would happen if he looked directly _at _her. He wore only jeans, revealing a well shaped black chest and tank like arms, framing his thing waist and legs. He was the only one of these three creatures with piercings like a human, three small hoops attached to the top of his right ear. Outai struck Kagome as a combination between Sesshomaru's coldness and Ranbou's rebellion.

Kouga, Ayame and Ranbou laughed heartily at Outai's comment. "You haven't changed, Outai," Kouga said warmly, grinning at his obviously long time friend.

Outai shrugged, reaching up one long claw to scratch sophisticatedly at the inside of his ear. "I suppose not. What's change, anyway? A complication."

At this point, Teki turned fiercely to Outai and let out a growl, one which reminded Kagome of pet dogs she'd seen fighting in the street. White muzzle pulling back lips to reveal razor sharp teeth, Teki said violently, "You want to fight me so bad, wolf? Let's do it, right here, right now!" He was obviously still smarting over Outai's recent comment on his behalf.

"What's the point in fighting when I know I'll win?" Outai said boredly, rolling his yellow eyes with a pointed sarcasm.

Inuyasha whispered in Kagome's ear, "They've never gotten along. Always arguing about species."

Though Inuyasha's words had barely even touched Kagome's ear drums, even at their close proximity, Teki and Outai both turned abruptly to face him, ears twitching all the while. Teki narrowed his eyes as they landed on Kagome for the first time and, soon enough, he said, "Is this your bitch, Inuyasha?"

Despite this being's height, roughly 6'10, and his weight, which could only be guessed around 400 pounds, Kagome felt her cheeks go hot and she was soon upon him like a swarm of angry bees. "His WHAT? I am nobody's bitch, thank you very much, and I never will be!"

Teki was thoroughly surprised by this outburst and he leaned back with every word, ears erect and eyes wide. Once Kagome was finished, breathing heavily with her fists clenched at her sides, he practically whined, "Geez, Inuyasha, what a pick."

Outai rolled his eyes, crossing his black arms irritably across his strong chest. "Are you really that dense? This human girl is not Inuyasha's mate. You can smell it, Teki-gentai."

"Oh yeah, Outai-okama?" Teki snarled in return.

_(A/N: I normally wouldn't put a note in a story, but this is important and I thought you guys might not want to scroll down for footnotes. When Outai and Teki address each other, they use suffixes that are actually japanese words. "Gentai" means failure and "Okama" is like dirty slang, equivalent to our word "faggot." Okay, thanks for your attention on that.)_

Ranbou placed his hands on both creature's chests, pushing them gently away from each other while saying soothingly, "Come on now, guys, no need for a fight."

Teki snorted, turning pointedly away from Outai with his arms crossed, while Outai threw his hands up defeatedly and sighed. Kagome giggled slightly at their reactions, finding their relationship almost humorous; this brought a small smirk to Teki's face. "She's a looker, Yash."

Inuyasha grew rather red and said strongly, "She's not my mate or my pick or whatever, okay? Her name is Kagome. She's Rin's cousin."

"Oh yes, Sesshomaru's bitch," Outai recalled, using the word "bitch" just as Teki had. By this time, Kagome was beginning to distinguish between their definition of this word and hers. Obviously, they were simply using it in it's true form to mean "female animal" instead of "stupid slut whore." This set Kagome's mind slightly at ease. "I always thought Sesshomaru chose well," Outai mentioned, obviously still talking about Rin. "A well mannered woman."

"For once we agree," Teki said with a snort, glancing over to where Rin resided beside Sesshomaru as he spoke with the fox man. "A great hind quarters."

It took all of Kagome's power to keep from laughing at this comment, for she knew the Niku were only using terminology which had lasted throughout their time on earth. Their words for things were slightly different, owing to their closeness to dogs and animals in general. While it may seem barbaric to her, it was just normal speech to them.

By this time, it became apparent that Sesshomaru and the fox were working out some kind of terms; over the months, Kagome had become used to Sessohmaru's business face. Tugging on Inuyasha's arm, she looked in his brother's direction and asked, "What's he doing?"

Before Inuyasha could answer, Teki cut in, "Sesshomaru and Bakudai are bartering, cars for parts. Every year, we give him a list of cars and then he gets to take parts from the yard for free."

Eyes widening, Kagome asked bewilderdly, "For free? But that's...so...generous!"

Outai chuckled, an entirely humorless gesture, as he responded, "We owe Sesshomaru our very lives; a couple of parts and are nothing. He gives us those cars out of his own kindness, not because we grant him parts in return. I've always thought it was bold for us to even ask him for the cars."

Before Kagome could ask any questions, she recalled Kikyo's words the previous day in the clinic. _I'm just trying to explain what life under Naraku's rule was like for the gangs. Constant terror. Until Sesshomaru came along. You've noticed how loyal the other gangs are to Sesshomaru, haven't you? It's because he saved them all, brought them out of darkness so to speak. _Finally, Kagome understood that these Niku Youkai were a gang, so to speak. Shaking her head slightly, Kagome tried and failed to imagine the kind of rule Naraku had enacted; with power stretching all the way out here in the desert, Kagome was glad he'd been dethroned. That kind of power just didn't deserve the filth of Naraku's hands.

"Eh, don't say that Outai," Kouga said, shrugging off the comment. "Gettin' the cars is a pleasure; I mean, lettin' us have at the whole yard is beyond the call of duty on your part, bud."

"Yeah," Ayame agreed, nodding slightly. "Without these parts, we would be totally lost back home."

Outai just smiled graciously, a smile which didn't quite reach his eyes. As he turned to face Kouga and Ayame, Kagome caught sight of a long running scar on the side of his face. It reached from the top of his forehead, running down his eyes towards his jaw, all the way to the side of his muzzle. He'd obviously been in an accident of some sort. "You're all good enough mechanics that I'm sure our parts are barely even a tenth of your success."

Before the others could respond, Sesshomaru turned towards the group while the fox man, Bakudai, stood smiling to his left. "Alright, everyone, grab your lists and go on inside. Make sure to get absolutely everything you came for, I won't stand for whining when we return."

The group nodded curtly, turning towards a pair of large chicken wire gates which were slowly swinging open, revealing an entrance to the massive junk yard. Kagome stared in awe at the place, which streched almost as far as the eye could see, piles upon piles of metals scraps and car parts. Each pile was at least six feet high, if not higher than that, and streched out across a good twenty feet, several dozen of them littering the yard. While the others had seen Tai Fujishu before, it never ceased to amaze them in all its splendor, sunlight catching the gleam on every wonderful piece of machinery.

The smell surrounding this place was that of oil and grease, one Kagome had learned to love during her stay with the Fangs, and she immediately warmed to the area, smiling at the sight before her. "C'mon, Inuyasha, let's go look!"

A familiar deep voice, coated with Scottish flavor, broke into the conversation. "Easy, cub, dinna be strippin' yer tail."

The fox man Bakudai had since left Sesshomaru's side as the others began trekking inside, walking over to converse with Inuyasha instead. Upon seeing Kagome's excitement, he couldn't help but comment and was now grinning at her with his brazen red fox face, which Kagome could see was speckled with little flecks of gray.

Soon, Kagome caught herself staring and said rather quickly, "Oh, uh, sorry. I'm Kagome."

"Ah'm Bakudai," the fox said with a roguish wink. "An welcome ta mah palace."

At this, Teki snorted good naturedly and quipped, "More like an old dog's magpie nest, grandpa."

Raising a sculpted eyebrow, which Kagome was surprised to see on a fox's face, Bakudai replied plantively, "A magpie nest which took near half mah life tah complete, thank ya very much, pup."

"How are you, Bakudai?" Inuyasha asked with an abnormal taste of propriety.

"Excellent, Inuyasha, excellent," Bakudai replied jovially. "Ye've grown since Ah saw ya last. Lookin' more like yer father every day."

At this comment, Inuyasha's expression wavered and his eyes darkened considerably, though Kagome doubted Bakudai and the others even noticed. It was very subtle, like the rippling of a bare pond, and she had to even squint to see it; a certain sparkle of regret in Inuyasha's eye. Obviously, being compared to his father didn't please him.

"Yes sir," was all Inuyasha said, mustering a smile. "We should be going, you know, get parts."

"Of course, of course," Bakudai said generously, gesturing towards the junk yard with one large padded paw. "Be mah guest, since ye are indeed."

Needing no further urging, Inuyasha began ushering Kagome towards the open gates, arm still wrapped securely around her waist. Kagome couldn't deny that this closeness was comforting, even in the heat, and she'd managed to survive her first meeting with Niku sheerly because of this reassurance. Without Inuyasha there, Kagome was fairly sure she might've fainted. It was nice to simply know he cared.

Inside the junk yard, Shitora and Ranbou were scalling a rather tall pile of parts in search of a crankshaft, meant for a Honda GL1800 Goldwing motorcycle. Ranbou wiped a thin trail of sweat from his forehead as he glanced up the mountain of metal at Shitora. She was sitting on a cleft, created by an old Thunderbird's front seat and a few dented bumpers. "It oughta be just about this big," she said, holding out her hands to display the size of the crankshaft.

Nodding, Ranbou pulled himself up a ways and joined Shitora on the ledge. "Yeah, there abouts. For the Goldwing, right?"

"Yeah," Shitora murmured thoughtfully, glancing below and above her as though expecting to see the part sticking out of the mountain.

From this height, about nineteen or twenty feet up, Ranbou could make out his friends working there way around the junk yard, pulling bits of rubble from mountains as they went. The mountain he was resting on happened to be the tallest, stretching about forty feet up and around fifty feet in circumference; it was a good place to watch the goings on in Tai Fujishu. The mountains were divided by part, pistons in one hill, distributors in another, so on and so on, motorcycle things on the west wall and car things on the right. Ranbou and Shitora happened to be in a huge mountain of crankshafts, engines and gas pedals. Ranbou spectulated that this mountain could've outfitted well over 600 cars on its own. This entire yard was massive.

"Hey, that isn't it, is it?" Shitora asked, pointing to a crankshaft sticking out of the wall ten feet above them.

Ranbou squinted, eyeing the part dubiously before he announced, "That's it."

"Great!" Shitora exclaimed, standing and beginning to make her way up the mountain.

Deciding to wait patiently on the Thunderbird ledge, Ranbou watched as she scaled the ten feet easily, demonic adeptness coming in handy on her way. She grabbed the part easily and was making her way back down when a step like engine gave way beneath her weight. Shitora gave a small sound of surprise as she almost went tumbling down the mountain, grasping in vain for a hold. Ranbou's breath caught in his throat at the sight of Shitora falling and, with one quick motion, he took a step up on a firmly lodged truck pedal and caught the girl in his arms, consequently bringing her tightly against him.

The two were still for a moment as the sound of the engine falling clattered down the mountain, becoming every distant until it hit the desert floor with an ominous thump. Shitora's face was pressed unconciously against Ranbou's chest, which she noticed was firma and sculpted, a perfect tan beneath his wife beater. He smelled like grease, cigarettes and sun; how a person could smell like sun was completely beyond Shitora, but he certainly did, warm and clean.

Ranbou took a deep, relieved breath, murmuring, "That was close."

"Yeah," Shitora replied in a rather choked voice.

"Watch your step, Sukini," he admonished lightly, using one arms to lower her down easily onto the Thunderbird seat.

The hanyou girl gave a slight huff of indignation, crossing her arms over her thin chest. "Don't treat me like a child. It was an accident."

Ranbou rolled his eyes, climbing down to join her with the newly acquired crank shaft; that was all the thanks he got? Apparently, some things would never change.

The Tokyo sun shone down brightly upon the ocean waves as they crashed against the sand, receeding back into the foam before lashing out once more. While further down the beach every day surfers and tanners gathered for comaraderie, Akago and Gan enjoyed the quiet of each other's soft speech against the quiet of their personal shore. They sat on the Shark's beach house deck, observing the sun as it sank lower and lower in the summer sky, stark against it's heavy blues. Gan ran a smooth hand over his ever present hat, lightly fingering the bill before blinking his violet eyes against the light. He glanced over at Akago ever so often, observing his leader's stately white hair fluttering across his wild crimson eyes. There was something absolutely magnetic about Akago, a shard of his personality which brought the lost and lonely running towards him for shelter. Gan was convinced this very thing had brought him running. Unbenknownst to anyone in this world, Gan had made the ultimate sacrifice to stay with Akago; he had compromised a part of himself.

"How many years has it been since you came, Gan?" Akago asked conversationally, Venetian shirt billowing slightly as a breeze caressed the man's shoulders; though he was only 18, Gan regarded Akago as a man and not a boy.

"Three, Akago. Almost four, I believe," Gan replied easily. His voice was rather lilting and musical, yes, but Akago had come to enjoy the sound of it.

Akago chuckled. "Short years. They've been very short years."

"You think?" Gan asked, quirking an eyebrow; his smooth face contorted with mild disdain as he crossed thin arms over an equally thin chest. "They seemed pretty long to me." _Everything seemed longer...with the ultimate sacrifice constantly on his mind._

Smiling slightly, Akago murmured, "Short years would've been a blessing. Here I am, caught between a rock and a hard place. Either I go against everything I believe in by staying with power-crazed Onigumo or I turn around and kill my sister. Betraying him would mean her death. For once in my life, I don't know what to do, Gan."

It was rare for Akago to show weakness in public and, in fact, it didn't happen. Around Gan, however, Akago showed a part of himself which the common man was never allowed to see. A sensetive soul, wanting peace and quiet with books and academia in some secluded part of this vast world. That was who he was, what Akago really wanted, but fate had brought him here. He was bitter, of course, but he wouldn't allow it to affect his job. He was a gang leader. He had to think of his gang first and foremost. Weakness was not an option.

Gan frowned, observing Akago for a moment before replying, "There's nothing you _can _do, Akago. You can't just go killing your sister, even if you've grown apart. You're blood and that affects you, as it should; making sacrifices for someone or something you love isn't weakness, it's strength." _Gan had been sacrificing for three long years, all for the one that he loved. It wasn't weakness, he tried to tell himself. It was true strength. _

"How like you Gan, always the romantic," Akago mused, not even turning to look at his trusted second in command. "Your sensetivity never ceases to amaze me; I always wish I had your humanity in me. It's a gift."

Sighing, Gan replied wistfully, "Sometimes. Other times, it's just a burden, feeling sensetive and affected by everything." _Gan the Gun was a sensetive soul, despite his accuracy with a pistol and keen wit. Only the soft hearted could make the ultimate sacrifice for something such as love, compromising a part of himself. _

"I wish I could understand," Akago said softly, eyed narrowing slightly as he looked out on the horizon. "But I can not. Perhaps I should be glad my heart is so black and cold; without it, I wouldn't be able to make this decision."

Gan paused in his thoughts, turning to face his leader with a sort of questioning air about him. "What decision?"

The sound which emitted from Akago's mouth was one of pure and unadulterated tiredness, a weary sigh laced with regret, bitterness and the barest hint of relief. Closing his eyes rather weakly, Akago murmured, "I'm going to leave Naraku, Gan. I can't do this anymore. The Sharks are out."

There was a defeaning silence between the two before Gan's heart seemed to come back to life, thumping almost erratically inside his small chest. Shaking his head rather slowly, as though he couldn't believe his ears, the violet eyed boy stood from his chair and stared aghast at his leader. "You can't be serious, Akago! He'll kill Kanna and you know he will! Naraku is heartless!"

Chuckling dryly, Akago said quietly, "No matter where I hide her, Gan, he'll kill her. But that shouldn't really bother me, I suppose; that shell of a being is not my sister. My sister Kanna was sweet, kind, and loving; though her body remains, she was gone long ago. _My _sister, was not a whore. _My _sister was not souless. _My _sister...knew no equal." For the briefest moment, his crimson eyes glittered with an unusual fervor, but Gan knew the great Akago would never cry, even in front of his most trusted friend. Akago could allow himself to appear weak for a moment, but tears were simply too much for his taste. He recovered quickly, whispering, "That girl you know is not my sister. And therefore, I am killing absolutely no one of consequence."

Gan couldn't quite think of the words to say and instead allowed his arms to dangle limply at his sides, violet eyes burning with question upon question. There were so many things he wanted to ask, and yet so many things he couldn't think to say through his parched lips. As far as the reasons behind an action went, Gan and the Sharks knew better than to question Akago's motives. He lead them strongly and never let them down, time after time after time. No, Gan's questions involved more of the future than the past.

Finally, the boy managed to stutter out, "Where will we go?"

Akago was quiet for a moment as he configured his answer, which was rather hard to say. Glancing over at Gan, the Shark leader managed the smallest of smiles. His boyish friend's soft face was the color of freshly cut peaches, that pale tinted with rosy pink; with his thin arms and legs, Gan was often thought of as weak, though he was truly one of the strongest people Akago knew. No one would ever understand Akago the way Gan did, but Akago feared even his closest friend couldn't quite grasp his reasoning on this issue. They would never really understood until all of this was over.

"I thought about that for quite some time," Akago said, breathing steadily and steadying his gaze on the setting sun. He was not afraid of what lay ahead. "I have no choice but to turn to the only one who could possibly stand up to Naraku. There would be no point in leaving when we couldn't be saved."

At these words, Gan blinked, trying to process such information with his already heated mind. "You don't mean..." Gan murmured, buzzing brain settling on the merest of possibilities. _The ultimate sacrifice is different for every person. Gan made his and Akago was no preparing to do the same: set aside his pride for the sake of others. _

And the boy was absolutely right."Tomorrow, I will go to Fang territory and ask Sesshomaru for his blessing and protection. It has taken me this long to realize the difference between right and wrong, Gan. And what we do now, what _I _do, is wrong. Everything about it. The drug peddling, the allegiance with unsavory killers, all of it is so obviously immoral that a younger me would've scoffed at the idea of such associations. All it took was the death of my father to send me and my sister flailing into hell; I am weak, Gan. But I must become stronger. And to do this, I will sacrifice everything, if only to do what is right. In this world we live in, the world of gangs, everyone is wrong and immoral in a sense, so one should seek the farthest thing from evil. The South is this thing. And we will go there." _The ultimate sacrifice protects and murders at the same time, eating away at a soul warmed by a shelter only self destruction could create. _

Unable to ignore the conviction in his leader's voice, Gan just managed a feeble nod, barely able to move as Akago rose steadily from his seat and left the patio, retreating to his room for some much need contemplation. Trying to steady his breathing, Gan forced his feet to shuffle across the wooden deck into the living room, walking through the linen curtain doorways with little or no recognition of other gang members or goings on inside the house. Turning a few corners, Gan came to his own room, located in a secluded corner at the end of one of the beach house's many hallways. The boy locked the door behind himself, leaning against the cool wood to soothe his pounding head.

The flicker of sunlight against glass caught his eye and he turned, taking in his own reflection before the beside mirror. Pale skin, smooth and soft like moonlight, caressed his bones in a pattern unlike the other boys. Walking slowly towards the mirror, Gan began unbuttoning his shirt and revealed a set of bandages, ones which etched thin lines across his tight skin. He reached blindly for the bandage tail, beginning a slow and methodical unwrapping of the string, watching as it unwound its way around him in a lifeless dance. Soon, the bandages fell to the floor and Gan stared blankly at his chest, reaching up to finger the bill of his cap. With one smooth motion, Gan threw the ever present hat to the floor, watching with near disgust as black tresses cascaded down his back, some falling forward over slightly rounded breasts and acute pink nipples.

Gan the Gun had made the ultimate sacrifice to remain by Akago's side. Masquerading around this world behind the likes of a mask he could never uncover for fear of scorn and ridicule, Gan played an actor's role daily, painting an illusion before the eyes of others and hiding from the world, all for Akago. The ultimate sacrifice.

She had compromised a part of herself.

Gan the Gun was a woman.

**Sorry this took so long guys, but as you can see this was a pretty full chapter. I tried to pack in lots of things, lots of plot twists, and I hope you got that last one clearly. I tried to put in more Inuyasha Kagome, but I'm always rather awkward when I write them, sorry about that. Thank you so much all of my reviewers, you give me the strength to carry on even when the writing seems like it will be tough or hard to do. I'll explain more about Gan's reasons for pretending to be a boy later on. For now you just need to know that he is indeed a girl. Love!**

**KOLU**


	20. Blood for the Merger

**Yay, the twentieth chapter! So boo ya, this story is moving along nicely, and I'm trying to incorporate what everyone thinks should go on, while keeping it within a practical realm. I have to say, it's working pretty nicely compared to what one might think. Love to everyone whose with us, making this story possible and all that. Love to Rae Rae and her love for the RX-7...haha. This might be a little sick on my part, but I loved everyones surprise at Gan's predicament, that being her dressing up like a boy. I couldn't help myself...plot twist anyone, with a hint of lime?**

Ryuukoytsusei heaved a sigh, staring at the grimy ceiling of the Dragon headquarters; being a leader often came with complications, but this was truly a wrench in his cogs, so to speak. Juu snorted, throwing his lavender braid over his shoulder with a practiced moodiness. "You've been sitting there pouting for almost half an hour, Ryuu. What's time should they be expecting your force to arrive?"

The green haired man snorted and observed his second in command with disdainful crimson eyes. "I still don't get why I have to fucking do this in the first place."

This only provoked a barking, humorless laugh from Juu, who focused his eerie cerulean eyes on his leader's seething red ones. "You're the muscle behind Naraku's brains. What's to get?"

"Shut up, Juu," Ryuu mumbled irritatedly, scuffing his boot sole against the table leg.

"This is your job, you know. I don't understand why you're hesitating," Juu mentioned, mouth twisting into a faint but otherwise cruel smile. "It's just another job to me."

"I said shut up!" Ryuu roared, eyes blazing as he stood abruptly to his feet, chair clattering to floor beneath him. The Dragon demon barred his fangs angrily, unruly green hair only adding to the fierceness of his appearance.

Unaffected by Ryuu's fit of rage, Juu braced his arms against the table, staring down his leader while continually twisting the knife which he had so ruthlessly plunged into Ryuu's chest; guilt screwed up Ryuu's insides, even as Juu's blue eyes sold him lies by the dozen. "You're an assassin, Ryuu, it's what you do. Every job should be just another job to you, no matter who's on the agenda and you should know that by now. We're killers, you and I. We both know what to expect from a murder." Moving slowly around the desk, Juu kept the other man's gaze with relentless strength. "Every single body, human, demon or otherwise, reacts exactly the same. You stab them in one of the eight points and they'll bleed out every drop of blood in their body, guts heaving from holes and brains spilling out their ears. Every single body is the same...so why isn't every murder?"

Without warning, Ryuu reared back his fist and delivered a bone crushing blow to Juu's jaw, broad chest heaving as he followed his second in command's journey backwards. Juu landed with a dull thud on the greasy concrete, skidding a few feet as his jeans and jacket zippers scraped across the floor. Finally, he lay still, coughing slightly as blood poured from his nose and mouth. Ryuu's fist was just the perfect size to bust a lip and nose simultaneously, but Juu had forgotten and let down his guard for the merest moment. Smiling crookedly, Juu coughed up a tooth and mentally chastised himself; he was second in command for a reason and he's forgotten his place. He got what he deserved.

Suddenly, the scarred but strangely handsome face of Ryuukoytsusei was mere inches from his own and Juu's lungs ceased motion for a moment. Crimson eyes tearing the smaller man's mind apart, Ryuu took Juu by the collar and dragged him upwards, holding him several inches above the ground as he spoke in a hoarse growl. "You're a heartless bastard, Juuromaru, and that's why I made you my second. But Akago's a good man in a fucked up world, trying to make it right by keeping his head on fucking straight. That's why I made him my friend. I ain't organizing his assassination; you want him dead, you do it, but I won't have part in it. You got that through your gay ass little head?"

All Juu could do in response was give his head a small twitch, which Ryuu received correctly as a nod. Disgusted by the normally beautiful man's bloody face, Ryuu threw Juu to the ground and stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Juu wiped blood from his mouth, coughing wretchedly as he lay there, heaving, on the cold ground; if he felt correctly, his nose was broken and, most likely, his jaw. Ryuu's strength knew no match.

No matter what happened, Juu had to complete the arrangements for Akago's murder; if the Shark leader remained alive, if only for another day, Naraku would viciously order Juu's head on a platter. Naraku was the kind of man to kill the messenger and was perfectly aware that, without Ryuu's ruthless band of killers backing him up, the Tarantulas had no leverage against other gangs. Juu, however, was expendable. And he knew that.

Pushing himself slowly to his feet, Juu turned towards the door and narowed his eyes; it was time to plan a murder.

The murder of Akago Tsume.

Stark across the quiet morning air, the engine of a well tuned Yamaha R6 roared across the open streets of a sleepy eyed Tokyo. Beneath his visor, Akago glared at the world around him with a vehemence only accumulated through toil and tribulation, eyes which had witnessed many things and most of them hideous. He was already well past the line separating North and South Tokyo, but he wasn't about to let his guard down. If Naraku had, somehow, gotten wind of his plans to betray the North, Akago couldn't afford to even blink. Naraku was evil and disliked, not stupid. Akago only wished, for the merest moment, that Heaven would heed his prayers and grant him safe passage to the Fang's warehouse.

Just as he wished this, Akago caught sight of a painfully familiar motorcycle in his rearview mirror; apparently, Heaven was in the mood for a bloody killing at his expense. Another motorcycle followed swiftly and, one by one, they appeared from the alleyways until six were flanking him, working their way to surround him on the open road. It was just nearing ten in the morning and the roads around the warehouse district were clear and empty for miles; everyone was already hard at work, conveniently out of the way as assasinations and hatred waged wars outside.

Cursing, Akago revved the engine and made as though to escape from the front, though one of the front most riders cut him off. Again, the Shark leader attempted to move away from the circle, but those at the left cut off his route. It was obvious to Akago that escaping this death trap was all but impossible; the Dragons had sent out their best assassins, all eagerly anticipating spilt blood, but Akago was almost confused; he didn't smell Ryuu among them. Surely, his friend would jump at the chance to murder, as it was his rather unappealing hobby, but he was conspicuously absent. Somehow, this made Akago proud and sour mouthed at the same time. At least with Ryu around, it could've been a possible two against five. Now, his chances of survival were slim.

"Pull over!" the rider on his right shouted, jerking his glove hand towards an open field within the warehouse district. Akago sighed and realized he had no other choice but to obey. Nodding curtly, he followed the riders towards the field and drove quietly across the grass, killing his engine and allowing his motorcycle to fall to the ground. This did not bode well.

Once Akago's intentions were clear, the six riders dismounted and removed their helmets, a few unfamiliar faces and one familiar one. Akago smiled wryly as Juu returned the gesture, jaw swollen and nose jammed painfully to the right; he'd obviously been on the receiving end of Ryuu's fist. Only the Dragon leader could do such damage.

"Akago," Juu said moderately.

"Juu," Akago replied in kind, crossing his arms rather casually. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

This only provoked a dry chuckle from Juu, who began closing the gap between them ever so slowly. "You and I both know the answer to that, Akago. The Dragon elite force only appears for one reason. Our motive is no different this time."

Akago narrowed his eyes as the sun intensified, catching his white hair and skin in an eerie glow. "You want to kill me then. Ah yes, I should've known. Tell me this, Juu. How did Naraku find out?"

Shrugging, Jurromaru placed his hands easily in his pockets and replied, "It wasn't the Gun, if that's what you're thinking. Since you'll be dying in a minutes time, you might as well know that we have a few insiders. Insiders very adept in the stealth department, if you catch my drift."

A certain bitterness filled Akago's mouth and he frowned, almost as though he'd swallowed something rank. "Spies. You had spies inside my headquarters. How fitting."

Juu smirked, a completely humorless motion, before replying easily, "So you would think. This is the end Akago." With this, he reached up a hand as shimmering claws emerged from his fingertips, preparing to descend upon Akago's unprotected head. But the Shark leader was much to quick for such a move.

Leaping neatly to the side, Akago released his own claws and stared down his opponents, making it clear that he wouldn't just lay down to die. The other elite prepared themselves for battle, claws and fangs poised for action as they surrounded the Shark leader on all sides. He smirked; it was time to see just how good the Dragon elite really was. With a grunt, he attacked the first Dragon to his left and, with quickness unmatched, tore open his stomach with such intensity that organs began protruding and spilling out on the ground. Akago blinked at this, surprised by the ease with which he'd killed one of the famed Dragon Elite Force, and proceeded to hurry on to the other Dragons, who were apparently not so weak.

As he battled one opponent from the back and one from the front, Akago began fervently working out battle plans in his quick mind. Every option seemed to close as the elite moved in different patterns, skillfully cutting off every escape route. _Very good, Juu. But let's see what you do against this._

Hurriedly back flipping away from his attackers, Akago cross his arms over his chest and reached down to his waist band, withdrawing to rapiers from his belt. The rapier sheaths were actually located in his trousers and, unbeknownst to most, he carried them with him regardless of his location or intent. Juu smirked and watched as Akago proceeded to bring the swords town in twin arcs, severing the jugular veins of two more elite before moving on to the two others nearest him. These two gave him a little bit of trouble, however.

The first was able to parry Akago's first rapier thrust with his claws and, faster than Akago could react, plunged all four of his finger claws into the Shark leader's abdomen, twisting them cruelly around in his flesh. Akago felt blood rising to his mouth and he choked, gasping in pain as he managed to bring up one of his swords to impale the attacker. When he fell away, however, the other was no where to be seen and before even the great Akago could sense him, the Dragon, brought his claws down in a sweeping motion and tore them down the leader's back, making four jagged lines from Akago's right shoulder blade to the left side of his waist. This Dragon was dispatched of quickly as Akago brought both his swords stabbing backwards, impaling his opponents vital organs in one fell thrust.

Juu frowned at the skill with which Akago handled his rapiers, not bothering to watch as the last remaining Dragon fell down dead. Shaking his head, Juuromaru murmured angrily, "Never send amateurs when you can send a professional."

Leaping high into the air, Juu placed two fingers to his lips and took in a deep breath, blowing out with such a force that Akago found himself seeking shelter from the burning. A foul smelling purple mist was engulfing the area and Akago could bet it was poison, as Juu was known for his strangely acidic skills. Frowning, Akago decided to live up to his heritage and use his mind reading skills in this dire situation; no doubt, Juu was planning to attack while his opponent was stunned by his poison screen. Akago preferred not to run around reading minds, as it seemed terribly rude, but this was a special case. Juu's mind was screaming _attack from behind, attack from behind. _This was the only window Akago needed.

Deciding to trust everything on a gamble, Akago turned in the engulfing mist and stabbed his rapiers forward, frowning with grim satisfaction as they entered the solid flesh of something moving at a high speed. It was partly Akago's thrust and partly Juu's momentum which impaled him on the swords, though Juuromaru was too busy choking on blood and fluid to really care about reasoning.

Akago narrowed his crimson eyes, white hair and face smeared with blood as he grunted, "No, Juu. This is _your _end." And with these cryptic words, Juuromaru breathed his last breath and fell to the dirt floor, blood staining the sand.

Rid of the Dragon elite and their desire for his murder, Akago drew in a sharp breath and clamped a hand to his stomach. He recoiled swiftly, finding his hand painted with blood, and he uttered a foul word; this day wasn't looking up. Knowing he only had one chance of worthwhile survival, the Shark stumbled towards his bike and managed to straddle the seat, leaving his helmet in the field as he gunned the engine; he was only three blocks from the Fang headquarters. Hopefully, the sight of him would be all the reassurance Sesshomaru needed.

"..._and the game progressed from there with a win from the Lions. In other news, Tokyo is looking at the longest heat streak in its history, with temperatures reaching as high as 43 degrees Celcius. _(111 degress Farenheit.) _Senator Rokai has issued a demand f-"_

With an irritable flick of his wrist, Miroku flipped off the radio and ran a hand through his hair, which was soaked through with sweat. "43 degrees. Looks like we're going to die young," he commented, earning a humorless chuckle from Sango.

Everyone in the warehouse had long since shed their shirts and, on numerous occassions, Rin had threatened to take off the rest of her clothing. Sango and the other girls had decided to twist their hair up in buns, as it was getting too hot to bother with worries such as that, and many of the boys were coming close to doing the same. If not for their pride, they might've settled for headbands, but this was asking far too much.

"Them boys in Oklahoma roll their joints all wrong," Shitora sang with a small smile, wrenching away at a loose bolt.

Besides her, Ranbou let loose a similar grin and continued, "Their too damn skinny and way too long."

"And I'm a holy roller so I just use a bong," the hanyou continued.

"Them boys in Oklahoma roll their joints all wrong," the two of them finished together, laughing slightly as they sung the ridiculous song and worked lazily away at someone's torn up engine. Race Wars was barely a week away, but the heat made it almost impossible to get anything done. Shitora started shaking her butt back and forth in a comical manner, laughing as Ranbou gave an ironically quiet wolf whistle. The two continued humming the song as Shitora danced around the car, seeming not to notice as Kouga and Ayame paused their work next door to watch with amusement.

Shitora was pretending to lay like a slut against the car door when Ayame's wrench suddenly clattered to the floor and she clamped a hand to her nose. Kouga furrowed his brow, immediately taking his girlfriend by the shoulders and searching her wide green eyes for trouble. Ranbou and Shitora exchanged frightened glances, wondering what all the commotion could be about; it took a lot to get Ayame concerned.

"Aya? What is it, what's wrong?" he asked urgently.

Shaking her head, Ayame replied weakly, "Can't you smell it? God, blood, Kouga. Tons of blood."

Kouga raised and eyebrow and exchanged glances with Ranbou, who lifted his nose to the air and took a tentative wiff. After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders and said confusedly, "I don't smell anything, girl. Must be your imagination."

"No," Kouga argued, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Aya's sense of smell is better than yours and mine both. Something's goin-" But before he could finish his sentence, the wolf demon clapped a hand to his own nose and squinched his eyes shut, drawing in a sharp breath. "Hot damn, she's right. Smell that, Ran?"

This time, Ranbou caught the vile scent of salty, metallic blood polluting his nostrils, causing him to choke and gag on whatever air he had left. The smell left a ragged burning in his nose and esophagus, never ceasing even when he erupted in coughs. "Shit," he murmured, trying to will away the scent.

Shitora couldn't understand what her wolf friends were talking about; she smelled nothing, even with her keen Hanyou senses. Of course, she reasoned, it was true that wolves had a keener sense of smell than dogs. She would most likely smell it soon, as would her brothers and other demon friends. As if on cue, Sesshomaru came jogging forward, Shippo, Souten, Bankotsu, Hiten, Hakkaku and Ginta hot on his tail.

"Obviously, you smell that too," Sesshomaru murmured, watching the wolf demons holding their noses with annoyed glares; the initial hit of the scent had done its worst and now it was simply annoying, like the putrid smell of a skunk.

"Damn right we do, who couldn't?" Ranbou shot back, rubbing fervently at his nose as though to dispel the horrid smell of blood. "Where is that coming from?"

"How the hell would we know?" came Inuyasha's annoyed mutterance as he joined the group, wrinkling his nose under the weight of the scent.

Sango, Rin, Kagome and Miroku watched all of this in confusion, feeling almost left out as the others struggled with a smell they obviously couldn't detect. They knew the demons smelled blood, but what was the cause of it?

Shippo, on a whim, looked out across the landscape, blinking as his impeccable fox vision picked up a speck on the horizon. "Hey, someone's coming," he muttered, pointing to the figure.

"Where?" Souten asked curiously, looking over Shippo's shoulder with her adventurous crimson eyes. Wrinkling her pert little nose irritatedly, she continued, "I can't see anything."

There was a silence as the others followed Shippo's gaze, wondering what the fox demon could possibly see so far away. As the prick came closer, growing in size and definition, Shippo's eyes grew grossly wide. "Is that...no, it couldn't be. What would he be doing here?"

"Who, Shippo?" Sesshomaru asked patiently, quite curious who could be infiltrating their headquarters surrounded by the scent of battle.

"It's...it's Akago Tsume of the Sharks," Shippo said quietly in response, brow still furrowed in confusion. "And he's covered in that blood we smell, or part of it anyway. What's he doing here?"

Upon hearing this name, several sets of claws released with a chorus of "chinks," followed quickly by the grim faces of determined gang members. The demons would protect their headquarters at all cost against intrusion, Akago's presence included. Sesshomaru began walking boldly forward, flanked on all sides by half naked but nonetheless intimidating demons, all of whom were irritable for at least three reasons and looking for a way to release their anger. Akago's bad day was obviously going to get a lot worse, or so it seemed.

Akago, however, was too busy worrying about his life to care about the iminant threat of the Fangs and their equally riled Southern brethren. As the Fang headquarters came into view and his bike wheeled easily along the gravel parking area, Akago's vision began to blur and he shook his stained white hair fervently, trying to refocus his vision. It was all for naught and he just managed to bring the bike to a stop when he fell from his perch, hitting the ground with a certain soreness accompanied by the scent of his own pain.

Reaching out a bloodstained hand, which was mangled beyond recognition from a Dragon's particularly vicious bite, he choked out, "_Kataki-tetsu, _Sesshomaru. _Kataki...tet..."_

Akago's words were cut off by a violent cough, which racked his body and brought pain to all those within hearing distance. Sesshomaru, who had set out with every intention to kill the man before him, stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of those words: _Kataki-tetsu, _meaning "enemy peace." The gangs didn't live by much of a code, but certain lines were never crossed by friend or foe. Set up in years long past, the idea of _Kataki-tetsu _ordained that peace could be kept between even the gravest of enemies for a set period of time. The general grace period was twenty four hours, but most liked to think it was twelve. In any case, before at least twelve hours had passed, neither enemy was allowed to harm his rival in any way, physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. If they broke the terms, they were ejected from the gangs. Permanently.

Sesshomaru had, actually, never been part of a binding _Kataki-tetsu _agreement for, indeed, no one had ever proposed the idea to him. To hear Akago Tsume, of all people, suggesting the bind had caught him off guard and he was still stumbling around in a metaphorical stupor; the North weren't exactly peace-friendly people. Perhaps Akago's reasons for being here had little to do with fighting at all.

Nodding curtly, Sesshomaru replied, "Recognized, _Kataki-tetsu._"

The eldest Taisho walked calmly towards the prone figure of Akago, who was still breathing however faintly, and observed the other man's state before leaning down to speak with him. "What are you doing here, Akago? This isn't like you to arrive, half dead, proposing enemy peace."

"I suppose it's not," Akago gasped, wincing in pain as he tried to face the dog demon. He managed to roll over onto his back, wherein he could actually meet Sesshomaru's curious amber eyes. Swallowing a mouthful of blood, the Shark leader managed to continue in a somewhat normal tone. "I can't do it anymore. I, like you, am not a man of weakness, but I refuse to be a pawn. I only stayed for my sister's sake, but even her life isn't worth that of my entire gang. She made her decision long ago. And I was simply to stubborn to make mine. But I have chosen now. I want..._need..._allegiance, Sesshomaru. I will glady give you any worldly thing, including my own body as payment, just to escape that hell. Please, Sesshomaru. I...submit."

For once in his life, the great Sesshomaru Taisho couldn't find words to respond to someone's statement. He'd always been the smart one, the leader with fabulous ideas by the dozens, but a speech such as this had taken him completely by surprise. The dog demon rolled back on his haunches, staring blankly off into space, before he decided no life changing decisions could be made at that moment.

Glancing down at Akago, who was struggling valliantly to breath, he muttered, "I'll think about it. For now, you need medical attention. And then I need explanations."

Before Sesshomaru could stand, however, Akago said quickly, "Wait." Pausing, Sesshomaru shifted his cold amber eyes back to Akago's crimson ones, which were growing dull with pain. "Three blocks East of here are six dead bodies. They need to be disposed of."

The dog demon was silent for moment but then gave a curt nod, knowing this request was not a personal favor but an unwritten law amongst the gangs. When something which could possibly betray the location and goings on inside the gangs threatened their way of life, each and every leader would do what it took to ensure the safety of their lifestyle.

Sesshomaru walked back towards his friends, stoically silent and calm, while they watched him aghast; this whole scene was a bit much to take in and, besides that, the demons could understand every words of that conversation. Kagome, Sango and Rin had hung on Ayame's every word as she relayed the sentences to them, barely able to move her lips from surprise. This whole situation was unreal. But Sesshomaru had a plan and didn't hesitate to inform the others upon his arrival.

"Ranbou, get the elite together; we need sterylization three blocks East of here. Rin, call Kei and Nanashi and tell them to meet us here, prepared for makeshift surgery, in fifteen minutes time. Kouga, Shitora and Inuyasha, arm yourselves with the appropriate weapons and pay a visit to Shark Headquarters. Request the presence of Gan the Gun at a private audience with me, Kouga and Akago later this afternoon, and tell him to bring his written territory agreements and allegiance contracts. Sango, call and cancel all deliveries and pick-ups for today, then close the warehouse door. Once your finished, join Ayame and Miroku in finishing our Race Wars checklist on all available vehicles and bikes, we still have work to do. Bankotsu, take Shippo and Souten to Cobra headquarters and bring the core back with you, prepared for discussion with your own territory agreements and allegiance contracts. Hakkaku and Ginta, go to Reikon headquarters and return with the same. Kagome, come with me, I need your help locating papers in the filing cabinets. Everyone, move quickly."

Stunned by these rapidly fired instructions, a flurry of activity occured almost spontaneously as everyone rushed off to do their jobs, making phone calls and grabbing weapons, charging off into the unknown armed with very little knowledge and only the orders of Sesshomaru at their backs. Inuyasha hurried with Kouga and Shitora towards a closet in the back of the room, from which they retrieved two pistols each and strapped them to their belts. Inuyasha was fiddling with the trigger when Kagome passed him in a hurry, stopping momentarily to speak with him.

"Inuyasha, please be careful," she said quietly, eyes pleading and expression frightened.

Grinning wildly, Inuyasha replied, "I'm always careful."

Smiling weakly in return, Kagome leaned up and placed a soft kiss on the boy's cheek before running off to find Sesshomaru. Inuyasha was frozen in place, hand clapped to the cheek which Kagome had so blessed with her touch. He was flushing a bright red, but he smiled through it and hurried off after Shitora and Kouga, who were calling his name urgently; by the sound of Sesshomaru's orders, they didn't have any time to lose.

Sighing, Sesshomaru took a long drag on his cigarette as he observed the brilliant afternoon, its rays casting a glow over the parked vehicles in the warehouse front. The day had been a blur of commotion and disagreement, everyone running this way and that trying to do their assigned jobs while simultaneously alight with excitement and stress. Inuyasha, Kouga and Shitora had arrived about an hour ago with Gan, who was carrying a thick binder with a grim look on his boyish face. When asked if they'd received any resistance, Shitora replied blankly, "We only busted one cap and it didn't hit anyone, so don't worry about it."

At the current time, Nanashi and Kei were inside fixing Akago's wounds, which was a task to be performed before any negotiations could take place. Sesshomaru decided to take this opportunity and smoke a cigarette outside, away from the hustle and bustle of the warehouse. He was momentarily broken from his thoughts as someone exited through the small warehouse door; as requested by the Fang leader, Sango had closed the hangar door for the day.

Kei walked towards his protege at a leisurely pace, several blood stains decorating his shirt and a drawn look on his handsome face. "Well, he was quite cut up, but he'll live. He fought it valliantly."

Sesshomaru snorted, taking another deep breath on the cigarette, smoke filling his lungs. "I didn't think he would die, Kei, I only wanted him well enough to discuss arrangements."

"Colder than ever, I see," Kei chuckled, taking a seat on an overturned oil barrel. His flaxen blonde hair trailed down his back in a shimmering path, matted with blood slightly at the ends; obviously, it had gotten in the way at least once. "I find his proposal interesting; merging the Sharks with the South? It's never been done, or even talked about. It's fascinating."

"If that's what you want to think about it," Sesshomaru replied shortly. "Personally, I find it rather bold of him; after everything they've done to us-"

"Now wait a minute Sesshomaru," Kei interrupted quickly, holding up one recently washed hand, eyes twinkling. "What exactly have the Sharks done to you? The Tarantulas, I agree, have done you wrong, as have the Dragons. Even the Wildcats have taken a bite out of your tail at least once, but what of the Sharks?"

Sesshomaru was quiet as he digested this proposal, trying to recall a certain instance where the Sharks had done him wrong; truthfully, he couldn't remember one. Altogether, the Sharks were a quiet group who followed the North without sound or question, doing what they were told and never making bold plays of their own. From what he could tell from his dealings with the Sharks, every single one of them was cold and calculative, wise enough to follow the notoriously brilliant Akago. None of them were openly cruel, excluding Gatenmaru who was often brash and hot headed, but the others were devestatingly...silent. What had pushed them to finally seek refuge from the North? What was Sesshomaru missing from this situation?

"They've never openly harmed the Fangs. Or the South, for that matter. All we know of them concerns drug traffiking and loyalty to the North. I'm still unconvinced, however; I'm not one to put the South in danger over one false trust," Sesshomaru said finally, eyes glazing over with uncertainty. "I don't know what to do, Kei."

To hear Sesshomaru admit such a thing was a humbling experience for Kei, but he wisely kept the amusement under his hat. Nodding a little, the former leader said, "In times of uncertainty and self doubt, I always ask my woman; I think you should do the same. Think about it."

Standing stifly from the barrel, Kei turned to leave when Sesshomaru said rather abruptly, "Kei, get Rin for me, will you?" Without a word, Kei nodded and walked inside, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Inside, the activity hadn't died down an inkling as phone calls were made papers organized, and agreements looked over. Rin was currently seated in the back of the room at the kitchen table, talking quite rapidly with a tight lipped Gan. Apparently, the two of them were discussing the merge, quite reasonably that is, their voices never raising above a certain level of volume. Kei approached rather loudly, so as not to startle them and stopped a few feet from the table, saying blankly, "Rin, Sesshomaru wants to see you out front."

Rin stopped talking immediately, fixing Kei with an incredulous glance. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Kei replied with a small smile.

Rin gave Gan a curt nod and rose, hurrying towards the door with quick little steps; today she wore a pair of black leather pants and a red bikini top, though she looked quite fiersome in her stilleto heels. Kei shook his head slightly as he watched her go, remarking, "A well mannered woman."

"To be sure," came Gan's dry reply as he stacked his papers rather neatly before returning to his immaculate note taking; apparently, he had a few things to add before their afternoon meeting.

Rin stepped outside the warehouse, closing the door quietly behind herself before focusing her gaze on Sesshomaru, who was leaned handsomely against the warehouse wall smoking a cigarette. His amber eyes remained unmoving on the horizon, leather clad arms crossed thoughtfully before his strong chest, and Rin approached cautiously; he was obviously in deep thought.

"Come here, Rin," he said politely, never one to give her orders.

Rin did so, taking a pert seat on the barrel which Kei had recently occupied. "Yes?"

After a brief silence, Sesshomaru continued, "Akago has proposed a merge, wherin we would induct the Sharks into the South. I wanted to know what you thought about it."

Rin was, to say the least stunned; it wasn't like her proud boyfriend to ask a woman's opinion, though he never treated her wrongly. He was quite respectful but, as in the animal world, reserved certain things only for the men and certain others for the women. Never before had he asked her for an opinion on business matters, unless they were numerical; in that aspect, her smarts in math came in handy. Otherwise, Sesshomaru preferred to act alone. Yet, in his time of need, Rin was determined to help her boyfriend.

"Well, I just spent a while talking to Gan about the reasoning behind this and I've got a story for you: Akago led the Sharks into a deal with the North to overtake Salter to protect his sister. When he realized Kanna wasn't worth it anymore, he decided to get out of the deal before it was too late for the sake of his gang. Northerner or not, Akago cares about his men and doesn't want them caught in the crossfire of all this shit. So he's asking you for help based on a solid devotion to his gang members. I don't think this matter alone is enough to make you agree, though; you need to talk to him, watch his eyes, watch his body language. Those things will tell you all you need to know about this situation," Rin reported wisely, gazing out at the horizon as she spoke.

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment before he pushed off the wall, approaching the barrel and placing a chaste kiss on Rin's lips. "You're a smart woman. It's one of the many things I love about you." With this, he placed a second kiss on her forehead and walked proudly towards the door, silver hair undulating back and forth with his hips.

Once the door had closed behind him, Rin let out a stream of air and smiled, proud to have helped her boyfriend in his time of need. It was fulfilling and made her feel needed. Wanted. Loved.

Inside, Sesshomaru walked purposefully towards the back where Kouga and Gan were sitting at the kitchen table, smoking cigarettes as Akago rested on one of the couches. He was stripped shirtless, bandages practically covering his chest, but he masked his pain with an ambivalent expression; he seemed to be deep in thought. At the sound of Sesshomaru's footsteps, Kouga glanced up and said, "Ready?"

"Do you have the papers?" came Sesshomaru's response; he was hardly in a chit-chat sort of mood.

"Right here," Kouga replied, holding them aloft.

Sesshomaru walked towards the couched and took a seat on the coffee table's edge, a mere foot from the prone form of Akago. The Fang leader addressed the Shark leader directly, amber eyes meeting crimson with a startling connection. "I have my own suspicions as to why you're here, asking for asylum, but I want you to tell me in your own words exactly what's going through that head of yours, Akago."

Sighing, Akago allowed himself to chuckle, however much it hurt his wounded chest. He stared defeatedly at the ceiling, sounding for all the world like a beaten war veteran surrending the fight. "I made a bad decision when I decided to join Naraku, but I'm perfectly aware as to why I made it: he threatened the life of my sister, who I thought was worth the effort at the time. I soon came to realize, as all of this monotonous posturing went on, that Kanna was lost and I'd put the lives of my men on the line for an unworthy cause. Before all this Salter business, I preferred to keep a certain distance between the Tarantulas and the Sharks for I never quite trusted him. Something in his eyes is crazy, as I'm sure you've noticed; he's not all there, Naraku isn't. Eventually, he started reeling me in and I knew then that we were headed for trouble. I would understand if you said no, Sesshomaru, because this is my fault. It's my fault we're in this position for, if I'd said at the moment he vied for Salter that all of this shit was not for me, I could've avoided this mess. But I ask you as a fellow leader and one who knows what having a baby sister is like...please help me. I conceede to you because I recognize that you can do what I can not: make the right choice when it counts."

As the white haired man spoke, crimson eyes growing farther and farther away, Sesshomaru saw something in his glance which surprised him greatly. All this time, because of Akago's affiliation with the North, Sesshomaru had pegged him for your every day thugster with an evil heart and cruel ambitions. But as he lay there now, defenseless and nostalgic, the Fang leader saw something in Akago that he'd never seen before: humility. This in and of itself was a rarity in the gang world, as only the prideful joined together with the ridiculous desire to stand on their own. Everyone was there in order to provide an excuse for their insecurities. But Akago was there to help everyone become secure.

Glancing over at Kouga, Sesshomaru said, "Kouga? Thoughts?"

The second in command narrowed his ice blue eyes, black hair falling in a curtain around his face as he thought momentarily. "The way I see it is this: they couldn't double cross us if they tried because our network is too tightly strung. Any word of betrayal would be out before they threw the signal down, so that isn't our issue. Our issue is the sheer morality of joining up with former Northerners who, for all we know, could be cruel hearted killers. Until we know they're not dangerous, a merge would do little to benefit the Fangs."

Smiling slightly at his best friend's always intelligent reasoning, Sesshomaru said aloud, "He's right; for all we know, the Sharks could be underhanded thugs. What's to say you're not, Akago?"

But Akago never got the chance to answer, for Gan the Gun spoke up quickly from his seat, violet eyes shining with conviction. "You could spend a year examining our gang and never know whether or not our hearts were good. This world is all about appearances; there's at least ten bad eggs in the South who you haven't discovered yet and I can guarantee you that. For now, its the shining white appearance which gives the South a good name; all of the North's evil doers are out in the open proclaiming their jail records. They're not exactly secrets in the business. I've been out, I've seen the world, and take it from a man of experience; the Sharks are a cut above. Every single one of them is sharp as a tack, trying to carve their place out with quiet insistence. We inducted each and every one of them for their stoutness of characters for, even in the North, you need to know your men will never betray. They're good, every single one of them; if they thought Akago or I was dangerous, they would throw us out and elect a new leader. That's our way."

Sesshomaru's eyes remained focused on Gan's brilliant violet ones and, truthfully, the Fang leader expected the boy to look away. No one could withstand the Taisho gaze for long. But Gan didn't even blink under the scrutiny, proudly proclaiming the goodness of his gang without a single backtrack. Truly, Sesshomaru mused, Gan the Gun was one of a kind. Perhaps one who could prove a useful ally.

"Alright, Akago," Sesshomaru said strongly. "I accept the merge. But I warn you now; one wrong step and I'll kill you."

Crimson eyes suddenly alight with hope, Akago nodded once, agreeing, "Very well, Sesshomaru. That is quite fair."

Without a smile, Sesshomaru met eyes with Kouga and said, "Summon Ranbou, Hakkaku, Rin, Sango, Bankotsu and Hiten; we have a few papers to sign."

As Kouga did so, calling throughout the warehouse for the other Southern leader and seconds, Akago took a moment to reflect on his decision. He suddenly saw the bright, smiling face of a younger Kanna, splashing around in the kiddie pool, latching on to his legs as he walked around the house. Back then, she'd been so joyous, so full of good intent and vibrant life. Now, she was just a shell of a being, performing dirty deeds and living a life of tainted permiscuity and immorality. He knew she was past saving for, truly, he'd seen it in her eyes. Deep black eyes, their father's eyes, devoid of life and care; she was only there for the sake of continuing on. She had no interest in living. And so Akago honored her wishes; at his hands, she would die.

For once in his life, Akago Tsume was going to do what was right, if only for the sake of his gang members. And he wouldn't regret it for a single day.

Later that night, the commotion had finally come to an end and all was peaceful as gang members packed up, preparing to go home and hit the hay after a stressful day in the garage. As had become his habit, Ranbou opened the door to his F-350, joining Shitora in the cab as he started the engine; these days, he's been driving the hanyou girl home, as both their motorcycles remained in the warehouse for fine tuning. He glanced out the window, noticing one pick-up truck still resting in the driveway; two thin trails of smoke were rising up from the tailgate.

"They ain't goin' home yet?" he asked gruffly, starting the engine with a roar.

Shitora giggled a bit, replying, "Hey, maybe all that time in a tailgate'll lead to some progress."

Rolling his ice blue eyes, the wolf began wheeling the enormous truck skillfully out of the gravel driveway. "Yeah, whatever. I bet Kagome slaps him one before he gets too close to the cave, if you know what I mean."

This comment earned him an outraged slap on the arm and Shitora's face flushed a pretty pink. "Yeah, well I bet you fifty bucks that Inuyasha whips it out at Race Wars."

"You're on."

In the back of Jakotsu's pick up truck, Inuyasha readjusted his shoulders on the cool metal as he took a drag on his cigarette, watching the smoke trail disappear into the darkness. Kagome grinned, blowing a few smoke rings before glancing over at the hanyou.

"So what do you think of this whole merge?" she asked conversationally.

Shrugging, Inuyasha allowed the cigarette to dangle from his lips as he replied, "Eh, I thought for a while that Shomo was off his rocker, but he told me why he did it and I guess he could be right. Out of the other Northern assholes, Akago and his buddies were the least shitty, I guess. He ain't so bad."

Kagome's chocolate brown eyes followed the path of a shooting star as it tore it's way across the sky. "From what I know of him, he doesn't seem like Naraku or Ryuukoytsusei. Like he didn't fit in with the North."

"He didn't really," Inuyasha grunted, smoke pouring from his mouth and nose. "He's pretty classy, like Sesshomaru. They're pretty alike sometimes."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed. She shifted her torso slightly, upsetting her red wifebeater and pulling up the hem to show a bit of her stomach. "Rin said Sesshomaru asked for her opinion today; she looked so happy when she told me. I wonder if he knows how much that meant to her."

"Dunno," Inuyasha replied lazily, half hooded amber eyes taking in the entirety of the Tokyo sky. He felt as though he could just float, as though the world were perfectly on its axis and everything was okay, if only for a second. He knew the battle for Salter was still on, but tonight it didn't bother him; tonight it was just him, Kagome, and the sky.

There was a brief silence between the two before Kagome's mind began dissecting the ifs and buts surrounding their relationship; her mention of Rin and Sesshomaru had sparked her desire for Inuyasha once again. "What are we?" she asked suddenly, laughing slightly at her own, lame words. "What is this? Us?"

Inuyasha felt his shoulders tense at the question as he glanced over at Kagome, who remained completely focused on the sky. Her profile in the moonlight was stunning, the gentle curve of her lips, the perfection of her brow. Sighing, Inuyasha responded, "Well, I know what I wish it was. I don't know what it _is _exactly."

"What do you wish it was?" Kagome pried, cocking an eyebrow at the absurdity of this conversation; neither of them could come flat out and say what they meant.

"Well," Inuyasha said quietly, "I wish you were my girlfriend. I don't like all those assholes starin' at you when we got to Races and shit. This'll sound gay, but you ain't protected unless you go out with a name on you. Nobody touches Rin cause they know Sesshomaru would pumel em. We already act like we're goin' out...bein' official would protect you."

Blinking, Kagome took in the formalities and insinuations Inuyasha had managed to slip into his proposal. While asking someone out was normally a very romantic, awkward situation, Inuyasha had turned it into a business agreement. Smiling slightly, Kagome realized that this was his world and now, hers. While most girls would find his methods absolutely impersonal, Kagome was flattered; in his gruff way, Inuyasha was trying to protect her. And it made her feel not only safe, but cared for. She liked that.

"That would be nice," she said softly, continuing to smile at the stars.

Inuyasha, afraid he might've heard wrong, turned to face her once more. "Come again?"

"I said that would be nice," Kagome repeated.

After a brief silence, Inuyasha grinned, full fanged, and returned his smile to the sky as well. "Good, cause I wouldn't have taken no for an answer."

Laughing, Kagome leaned her arm over and tried to whack him in the face. "You're so full of shit! You're an asshole, Inuyasha!"

Unable to keep from grinning, Inuyasha fended off her blows half heartedly, allowing her to think she was besting him. _Only for you, Kagome; I don't just take hits laying down for any old broad. But seriously, you'll the best I've ever had and I still can't believe you'd settle for a guy like me. I can't handle women for shit; I call em nasty names and treat em like property, but it's only cause I want to protect em...protect you. You're all I think about anyway, can't even fix an engine without stopping to think about you. It drives me crazy...but I wouldn't mind being crazy for you._

_And now that we're officially a couple, I'll protect you with my life. Not that I wouldn't have before, but now no one'll question me about it. It helps keep my pride intact, you know? Cause that's what it's all about...right?_

_Yeah. Right._

**Sweet, another chapter done. This one is an important chapter, but not exactly exciting, I know. Apologies for that everyone. But I did my best to make it not so gloomy. I failed. Haha. Alright, here we go. Race Wars and shit is gonna go up soon. I hope you got that little reitteration of one of the earlier chapters at the end. If not...oh well.**

**KOLU**


	21. Race Wars I

**WOOHOO! I'm really excited for the Race Wars chapters because they're like the pinnacle of the story, full of action and romance, blood and guts aweomse! Okay, so before we start I'm gonna have a quick FAQ because it'll help you guys out.**

**Q: Why can't the guys tell Gan is a girl?**

**A: Glad you asked. I haven't actually gotten to the part where I explain it yet, but Gan is using an illegal scent masker called Plain which is produced from the skin oil of Leopards. It masks her scent to smell like a boys, at least hormonally. Otherwise, the guys take her to be a rather effiminate boy; I mean, if Keira Knightly, the hottest girl ever, can get away with acting like a girl on a pirate ship for thirty minutes, Gan can get away with it for three years. Right? Sure.**

**Q: When/Will Kagome become part of the Wildcats?**

**A: Haha, silly question, of course, but it takes place near the end of the story. This story has several plots and one of them is Kagome's journey to becoming a Wildcat.**

**Q: How long will this story be?**

**A: About 30 chapters is my guess. We're already well past 100,000 words, so it'll end up being pretty lengthy**

**Okay, that pretty much sums up the FAQ for now, so on to the story. If more questions arise, I'll be sure to answer them. Thanks to all my reviewers, I love you guys, you make my day. I'm really excited to share this chapter with you...like, seriously. I'm really really pumped.**

Kagome took a deep breath as she stepped out of her beat up Triumph, gazing at the warehouse for what seemed like the last time. According to Rin, Race Wars was the highlight of the gangs' year and defined what life would be like for another twelve months. Despite the ominous aura surrounding this statement, Kagome couldn't help but feel strangely excited.

The previous day, a double decker truck transporter had arrived to take away the cars and motorcycles, which Sesshomaru insised be kept in mint condition until the races. Due to this decree, the racers had loaded their vehicles onto the transport, bidding them farewell until the arrived at Race Wars the next day; for their six hour drive to the race location, the Southern cores would split themselves up amongst two RVs.

A great deal of carpooling had taken place that morning, due to the lack of cars and motorcycles nearing the race, and Kagome was in charge of transporting the Wildcats. Kagome locked the Tiumph behind her, though she doubted anyone in their right mind would steal such a car, and began walking purposefully towards the RVs with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. The other girls followed suite, carrying their own bags, while Rin was carrying an enormous rolling suitcase. It skipped and hopped over the gravel, causing her slight discomfort, though she continued valliantly on.

The boys were already present and accounted for, standing in circles and waiting for the leaders to conclude their brief meeting. As soon as the girls walked up, the boys grinned and boyfriends broke away from the crowd, greeting their women in their own special ways. Rin brought her suitcase to a stop and jogged towards the other leaders, adjusting her bikini top absent mindedly.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. We had to get the Triumph push started at every stoplight," she said breathlessly, smiling all the while.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes, massaging the bridge of his magnificent nose as he asked, "Couldn't you have taken another car?"

"Well, mine's in the shop and the other girls' put theirs on that truck yesterday," Rin argued, crossing her arms pertly across her chest. She was becoming rather flushed, either with embarrassment or anger she wasn't sure, but Sesshomaru couldn't help but find the sight pleasing.

Bankotsu chuckled, crimson eyes twinkling with mirth. "We really should fix that old car for Kagome," he mentioned in his laid back tone, shaking his black head regretably.

At this, Ranbou only grinned. "Hell, for the money we'd spend fixing that piece of shit, we could buy her somethin' else."

"Perhaps an upgrade is in order. Like a Vespa, for instance; I'd say that's an upgrade from the Triumph," Akago deadpanned, earning laughs from the other leaders. During their first week in the South, the Sharks had proven thesmelves to be an integral part of any mechanical, financial or social situation. As Gan had stated previously, every Shark was well mannered, wise, and generally the sort of boy you would bring home to meet your mother. In fact, Sesshomaru couldn't recall meeting so many wholesome men in any gang before, even his own. He knew quite a few Fangs had shady pasts, but they were good men...just far from "wholesome." All in all, it surprised everyone how easily the Sharks smoothed out the wrinkles in Southern life.

"Well see how she does at Race Wars. Whatever she does will warrant the vehicle she receives," Sesshomaru said with a small smile, eyes gleaming with excitement. Race Wars was not only the pinnacle of his year but the saving grace of his gang. He couldn't help but release a smile. "But back to business. The only thing left to decide is how to split the RVs. They're the same model, hold the same amount, and drive the same way. It's really a social question."

Ranbou shrugged, holding out his hands plantively. "Well, c'mon now, we're civilized adults. We can work this out without a fuss. Let's just ask the others."

The leaders turned to face their gang members, only to find a good percentage of them making out with each other. Sesshomaru frowned, crossing his arms with a weary glance in Ranbou's direction. "You were saying?"

"I retract my previous statement," Ranbou said dully, cocking an eyebrow as his brother's tongue searched for unknown treasure in Ayame's throat.

Sesshomaru was, fortunately, spared the unwanted sight of his own brother doing nasty things, but Inuyasha's arms were currently locked protectively around Kagome's waist as he planted warm kisses on her neck. She was carrying on a conversation with Shitora, both of them looking for all the world like everything was completely normal.

Akago made the mistake of settling his eyes on Sango and Miroku, who were talking with Hiten, Ginta and Hakkaku about the upcoming races. Unbeknownst to the other three, Miroku's hand seemed to be massaging Sango's right but cheek through her jean pocket. The white haired demon made a choking sort of sound, pale cheeks growing slightly green; how revolting.

Rin followed his gaze, wondering what could turn the stomach of the mighty Akago, and immediately flushed a pretty pink. "Holy shit, gross," she murmured, turning away to bury her head in Sesshomaru's side. Sighing, Sesshomaru tried to work the angry knots out of his temples, but he couldn't seem to bring down the pain.

Bankotsu regarded the pulsing vein on Sesshomaru's head with considerable caution. "Shomo, calm down now..."

"Oh for the love of Kami," Sesshomaru barked, amber eyes opening with a terrifying snap.

Rin pulled away from her boyfriend, who looked positively angry, and took her place beside Akago. "This is going to be interesting."

"Indeed," came Akago's quiet reply; he watched the goings on with a small smirk, pale arms stark against the black of his Sharks jacket.

Sesshomaru took several steps forward, addressing the crowd before him with fire in his stare. "Males in that RV," he said commandingly, pointing to the one on his right. "And females in that RV," he continued, pointing to the one on his left. All activity ceased as the others regarded him curiuosly, wondering what could've set him off. If the protruding vein on his forehead was any indication, Sesshomaru was in a downright vile mood at the moment.

"Wait a damn m-" Inuyasha began, only to find his mouth covered by a smooth, rose scented hand.

"Inuyasha, do you _want _to die?" Kagome hissed, brown eyes narrowed dangerously.

Gulping at the scary looks on both his brother and girlfriend's faces, Inuyasha shook his head rather quickly and quieted down, skulking back into the shadows where he couldn't be seen. After a confused moment of silence, Sesshomaru said silkenly, "Think of it as a cleansing experience. Move. Now."

With these words, everyone hefted their bags and began walking to their specified RV. It became apparent as they neared the cars that this idea of boys and girls wasn't going to work; there were more than twice as many boys than girls, making the idea of living with eleven boys in one RV rather bleak. Sesshomaru, nonetheless, stepped boldly into the RV, hefting his back into one of the overhead compartments. There were two seating areas, like restaurant booths in the center of the car, with the two bedrooms in the back. Several seats occassionally popped out of the walls, wood panneling and all, and the RV seemed like a cozy place to be for the seven hour trip. As the boys all began piling in, Kouga raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Shomo, the way I see it, three guys can sleep in each booth, right? That's six. We got another four in the bedrooms, and that makes ten. But then we've got one more guy and putting him on the floor is gonna be impossible; none of us are thin enough," the wolf demon said, blue eyes rather muddled with confusion.

Recognizing Kouga's point, Sesshomaru glanced around the cabin at the men present. Since he was still in a rather dodgy mood about public displays of affection in his gang, he decided to send the least manly man to stay with the girls for the trip. His eyes traveled over the crowd before they finally settled on the one boy he was thinking of.

"Gan, you're one lucky man; you get to stay with the girls."

The other boys groaned, occasional moans of "lucky bastard" and "why not me." Gan's face showed no expression as he sighed, recollecting his duffle bag and rolling his violet eyes plantively. "Oh boy. I'll call you guys and let you know what the latest gossip is, who Brad Pitt's screwing, all that delightful stuff."

Laughing, the other boys sent him off, none of them worrying about their women in the presence of the Gun. If there was ever a man they trusted with their women, it was Gan; not only was he polite and respectful, but he showed absolutely no interest in women. He didn't seem gay, though a-sexual might've been an option. As Gan stepped out of the RV, making a slow walk to the other one, the man facade fell off and she whimpered. While keeping on a man face before other men was bad but easy, keeping one in front of girls was worse; they were the smarter sex, the more intuitive race. If she made it through this weekend with only a bottle of scent masker and the luck of God, Gan would be incredibly surprised.

Sighing, Gan opened the door of the girl's RV, coming face to face with a mildly surprised Sango, who was in the driver's seat. "Well, hey there Gan," she mumbled. "What's up?"

"There were too many people in the other RV, so Sesshomaru sent me over here," Gan replied formally as Sango stared mercilessly at her, obviuosly, as Gan saw it, breaking down her disguise piece by piece. Any minute now, Sango was going to yell something like, "you're a _girl!_" But nothing like that happened.

Shrugging, Sango said, "Welcome to the girl's RV then."

Nodding slightly, Gan trudged up the steep steps and entered the RV, which was a carbon copy of the boy's RV, except with less bag clutter and less rotten colon scents. Smiling slightly, Gan remembered for the briefest moment what it was like to hang out with girls. She had, after all, been undercover since she was thirteen; hanging out with girls hadn't exactly worked it's way into her schedule as of late.

"Hey bitches, where's the deode-...holy shit!"

There stood Shitora, naked except for a pair of red lace underwear, thinking her bare breasts were safe from the eyes of peeping males. Upon seeing Gan, the girl grew red and let out a shriek, running quickly into the bathroom and slamming the door. Gan gulped, massaging her temples wearily; this was going to be a long trip.

At this moment, the sound of screeching tires was heard and a blue Jeep pulled up to the gravel parking area, stopping witha deadening jolt. With high pitched "thank yous," Souten Mitsarugi and Shippo Sasuga came sprinting towards the RVs with duffle bags slung over their shoulders. With a shrug, the driver of the jeep gunned the car in reverse and sped away from the warehouse, hurrying off in the opposite direction.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at the scene, which he observed rather boredly out the RV window, and asked, "Whose turn was it to pick up Shippo and Souten this morning?"

There was a brief pause before Kouga smacked his forehead and exclaimed, "Shit!"

Raising a delicate eyebrow, Akago turned to Hiten and asked, "Weren't you at all worried about your sister's whereabouts?"

Hiten only stared mutely at Akago for a few moments before he replied confusedly, "I forgot she was at Shippo's. I figured I'd...see her later?"

Sighing, Akago shook his head and turned away as Shippo came sprinting up to the door of the RV, which Miroku promptly opened. "Good thing you made it in time, Shippo, we were about to take off," the driver informed him, grinning to show he was joking.

"How'd you even get here?" Kouga asked, eyebrow cocked curiously.

"We thumbed a ride."

Souten took a tentative wiff of the air and scrunched up her nose. "There's only guys in there," she announced, making a face.

"You're in the girl's RV," Miroku informed her, waving a hand in the other car's direction. Shrugging, Souten waved goodbye to Shippo and hurried off towards the other car, wondering what she could possibly talk about for eight hours with a bunch of women; women were annoying, she'd learned. She much preferred men.

Miroku watched Shippo's eyes, which followed Souten's every step to the RV, and the violet eyed boy chuckled lowly. "You were staring at her ass, weren't you Shippo?"

The fox demon whirled about to face Miroku, blushing a bright red from where he stood on the concrete. "What! Of course not!"

As the boy climbed the steps, still a brilliant red, Miroku closed the door with a hiss of air and said, "Those who protesteth much, my friend. Sounds like you've got a crush."

The others laughed at the sour expression on Shippo's face as the boy threw down his bag by the others and sat down on the end of a booth seat. "Yeah, well at least I don't have my hand on Souten's ass the whole day long. Like this one guy and his girlfriend I know..."

The other boys cracked up and let out woops of approval at Shippo's comeback, which was generally unlike the well tempered boy; the Fangs were starting to rub off on him. Miroku laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, mumbling, "Well, got me there; at least your skinny enough to sleep on the floor, Shippo. Alright, let's get this show on the road."

Eventually, the two RVs got off and running, Sango and Miroku in the driver's seats; generally, they were considered the best drivers, best being a loosely used term. The conversations in each car were distinctly different, but each interesting in its own way.

In the boy's car, Inuyasha leaned back against the window and sighed, closing his eyes to take in the hum of the road. He was just drifting off into oblivion when a voice asked, "So, you're going out with that Kagome girl then."

Opening one amber eye, Inuyasha took in the sight of Akago, who was sitting across the table from him. The Shark leader held a rather ambivalent look on his face, though his curiosity was still clear; perhaps it was the way his eyes twinkled like two rubies in the light, but Inuyasha couldn't help but answer. "Yeah, I am. Why, is that a problem?"

"No problem," Akago replied easily. "Just a wonder. It seems rather surreal to me, you two going out. As though you're heart's not in it."

This cause a disdainful snort to erupt from Inuyasha's throat and he muttered irritatedly, "Shut up, Tsume, you don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about."

"Mutt-face, don't be a bitch," Kouga murmured, neglecting to look up from a rather interesting article in Biker Weekly. Sesshomaru sighed, shaking his head; it had been quite a while since Kouga and Inuyasha fought, though he's sensed it coming for a while. Most of the time, they refrained from speaking; this worked for a few months before the fighting would start again. Despite his seemingly violent nature, being the Fang leader and what not, Sesshomaru would rather his brother and best friend avoid fights. It was quite troublesome.

"Yeah, shut up, ya dead beat wolf," Inuyasha shot back, barring his fangs.

With a grin, Kouga displayed his substantially larger demon teeth. "Not impressed by your baby teeth, mutt."

"What, you wanna start somethin', ya dumbass Yakuza bitch ?" Inuyasha yelled, rising from his seat with a threatening motion. Kouga made as though to fly forward in a blind rage, stung by the insult which Inuyasha had so callously paid his family; their dealings with Yakuza were a sensetive subject.

Immediately, two figures stepped between them and two held them back, quickly breaking up a fight before it began. Sesshomaru dragged Kouga back, rolling his eyes as both Kouga and Inuyasha began to struggle against their captors. Akago sighed as Inuyasha tried valliantly to get past him, arms and legs flailing like a petulant child. Ranbou and Bankotsu shook their heads, refusing to move away from their position between the hot headed Fangs; would they never learn?

"I ain't no Yakuza bitch! Joh-ranei rawool rashuwah janeiloo!" Kouga barked fiercely, slipping into vicious sounding wolf tongue in the middle of his rant.

Lowering his eyebrows dangerously, Inuyasha yelled, "Whadya call me!"

"You don't wanna know," Ranbou replied with a snort, ignoring Hakkaku and Ginta as they cracked up over what Kouga had just insinuated. Inuyasha, not liking to be left in the dark of insults paid to him, gave a rumbling growl before a surprisingly cold voice deadened his attitude.

"Are you quite finished behaving like a child or would you rather continue looking like a fool?"

Sesshomaru's question seemed to dissolve what anger remained in the room, shaming even the garrulous Inuyasha into silence. With a snort, Kouga allowed his muscles to relax and avoided Inuyasha's gaze as Sesshomaru unhanded him, allowing the wolf to storm back towards the bedrooms. The others watched him go, Ranbou with a slight regret and sadness, before the Fang leader spoke again.

"An inappropriate comment," was all Sesshomaru said, amber eyes betraying his disappointment at Inuyasha's thoughtless jibe; talking about the Ookami's Yakuza connections was uncalled for.

Snorting, Inuyasha looked away with a definite redness spreading across his cheeks. "Yeah, that bastard started it."

"What are you, fucking five?" Ranbou burst out, throwing his muscular arms akimbo. "Jesus Christ, Yash, that was low no matter who started the damn thing."

"Well it applies to you too, don't it? Why didn't you get your panties all in a twist and he did? Why? Cause he's a frickin' pussy!" Inuyasha screamed, ears twitching madly atop his head as he gestured wildly with clawed hands.

Before he could even blink, a deadly strong hand was clasped around Inuyasha's throat, belonging to none other than Ranbou Ookami. Ice blue eyes narrowed to a frightening degree, he shoved the hanyou up against the RV wall and hissed, "The Fangs shelter you. I've been dealing with comments like that for years. Kouga's been running around with you and your little buddies, fixing cars and having a grand old gay time. Some of us do different shit than that; I've been the brunt of every fucking Yakuza stab since I joined the Reikons. At least around one of your own core, you could have a little respect." With a certain coldness about him, Ranbou practically threw Inuyasha down in his seat, not even sparing a nod to the others as he stormed towards the bedrooms, joining his brother and slamming the door behind him.

The others were quite for a moment as they glanced awkwardly around the cabin, unsure how to deal with this situation; it was rare that anyone fought in a way such as this, but when they did, heads flew and bridges were burned. Clearing his throat in a sophisticated manner, Sesshomaru said, "Inuyasha, if you have harmed our relations with the Reikons in any way, I will personally see to it that you never touch the wheel of a car again."

Knowing that his brother was completely serious, Inuyasha gave a curt nod before adjusting himself comfortably in the booth seat, resting his forehead against the cool window glass. This was shaping up to be a rather difficult journey.

In the girl's cabin, Shitora had finally recovered from flashing Gan and was back to her irrepressable self. To preserve her masquerade, Gan had taken to working dilligently on papers and finance planning for the Shark's upcoming year, head bent over her work at a dilligent angle. Kagome and the other girls were playing cards, Souten included, as they talked about the boys; the men could provide an endless well of conversation. At the current time, they were discussing the flaws among their boyfriends.

"I just wish he would open up to me more," Kagome commented about Inuyasha, frowning as she reorganized her hand. "It's like there's something important he's not telling me and it makes me uncomfortable."

Sango, who was listening in while driving, nodded sympathetically, agreeing, "That's always distracting in a relationship. Miroku's not that way, though; his problem is in avoiding conflict. When I try to talk to him about a problem, he keeps on ignoring it and brushing it aside like I never mentioned it. Like he's so afraid of fighting, or something."

"Hah, I can see how Miroku would do that," Ayame laughed, green eyes sparkling. As she moved her head, her red hair shimmered in the light; just before she'd left, the girl had Rin straighten her hair with a flat iron and it was brilliantly shiny. "Kouga's great; I guess my only problem is that he distracts me a lot. Like he wants to ignore the world and have it just be me and him. He doesn't, like, become all possessive and take me away from places, he just whines about it. I think it's our breed, though; wolves are like that."

The other girls laughed a little at this comment, turning to Rin as she played a card on the table; it was her turn, not only to call trade as dealer, but to share her boy problems. "Trade one. Yeah, Sesshomaru and I don't have any problems that I can think of. We're past _that _problem stage. I don't think we ever really hit a point where we couldn't talk about issues in our relationship. If one of us had a problem, we talked it out; simple as that."

"Souten? What about you?" Kagome asked the youngest girl, who seemed completely fascinated by this whole "girl talk" idea.

Upon hearing her name, Souten's crimson eyes grew adorably wide, little demon fangs glinting in the sunlight as she cocked her head curiously to the side. "Ise don't got boys, so Ise don't got problems."

"Amen to that philosophy," Sango joked, earning chuckles from the others. "But Shippo and you are close enough that you could talk about him, right? Any problems there?"

The question brought a blush to Souten's cheeks and she immediately began playing with her ponytail, indulging her nervous habit as her cards lay neglectedly in her lap. "We don't got any problems. Well, except sometimes, I think he's not listening to me and he's just saying, 'yes, So, right, So.'"

Snorting, Rin agreed, "Probably is. His father does just the same thing when Nan starts going off on a tangent. Say something outrageous and get him to agree with it, like 'wow, it's getting so hot I might have to take off all my clothes!' And then he'll go, 'yes, So,' and there you go."

Souten giggled madly, face alight with glee. "That would be so frickin' sweet!"

"I bet you could do it too," Ayame said with a grin. "I wanna be there, though. Get him in the zone and then call us; we'll watch."

Souten agreed and the others began rearranging their cards into suitable suits before Kagome turned rather interestedly to Shitora, whose white head was bent intently over her hand. "What about you, Tora? Boyfriend problems?"

"Like the kid said, no boyfriend, no problems," Shitora mumbled disinterestedly, switching two cards before examining their order with calculative amber eyes.

Exchanging a smug glance with Sango in the rearview mirror, Kagome continued, "But you're practically dating, right?"

"Psht, we're not dating," came Shitora's bored reply as she shifted her small body in the seat, still completely focused on her cards. Seeing that this would take some more affective woman power, Kagome glanced at Rin, who sighed softly and decided to help her friends to unwravel Shitora's tangled love life.

"Do you like him?" Rin asked on her cousin's behalf, not really wanting to pressure Shitora further.

The hanyou paused momentarily, glancing up with a look of pure disdain on her features. "Like who?"

"Ranbou, duh," Sango interjected from the driver's seat, rolling her brown eyes plantively.

"I don't even like him, we're barely friends," came the youngest Taisho's dismissive reply; she pretended to be completely enthralled by the card game when, in reality, these questions were making her distinctly hot under the collar. For a while now, she'd suspected herself of actually liking Ranbou, but was far from admitting it; that would take a sort of humility she wasn't ready to expend...right? Shitora was convinced that she wouldn't come to terms with her feelings for at least another month, but what if it happened sooner? What if she actually fell for him? Had she already fallen for him? Her friend's questions were creating more question and, frankly, it made the amber eyed girl uncomfortable.

"Friend...with benefits?" Ayame asked daringly, making light of Shitora's comment.

"Hardy fucking har," Shitora bit sarcastically back.

"I thought youse guys were, like, already goin' out," Souten said confusedly, obviously having misinterpretted Ranbou and Shitora's relationship.

The others grinned while Shitora blushed a brilliant red, stunned by the young girl's comment. "What? No! We're not going out, I don't like him, end of story."

"Hey, make a move; you never know. You might get lucky," Kagome suggested.

Throwing down the cards with which she'd been so preoccupied, Shitora stood from the booth to retreated towards the back when she tripped on the ugly purpled carpet, sending herself crashing to the floor with the threat of rugburn looming over her head. The sudden motion created a wind which whisked her cards into the air, causing them to float gently down to the ground like leaves in a light breeze. One single card landed on Shitora's forehead, sticking to the fine sheen of sweat collecting on her nervous brow.

Ayame flipped the card over and glanced at it, grinning. "Yeah. You just might get lucky." With a smug smile, the redhead turned the card to show Shitora, who looked dismally up at the Ace of Spades.

Maybe, she mused, this whole relationship idea might really work out. But Shitora wasn't one to rush into a binding contract of any kind; she only did things like that when she had good reasons and strong conviction. On this subject, there were few good reasons and even fewer convictions in her opinion, but the hanyou stoutly refused to entertain the thought a minute longer.

_Any longer, _she reminded herself, _and you might admit the truth. That you're falling for him. Hard._

With a sigh, Shitora reached up and took the card gently from Ayame's grasp, examining the design boredly. She couldn't argue with the Ace of Spades. Some things were just fate.

Without stopping for gas or food, the RVs were able to arrive at Race Wars in eight hours time, pulling in the gate around four in the afternoon. Miroku grinned, slowing down slightly to allow the gates to swing open, announcing, "We're here!"

Shippo joined Miroku in the front of the car, gazing out the window at the scene before him. Race Wars took place annually on an abandoned air force base, uniting gangs and racers from miles around to celebrate the rarities of their craft. It stretched out over about a week, allowing everyone to get their fill of motors and tires, while showcasing the talent inside each specified group. The left most runways were used for racing and the right most for parking, though the center was where most of the action took place. Each respective group had a tent set up, allowing people to drift in and out asking questions and making small talk. The bigger the tent, the more imporant the group.

The tent tops created a multicolored rooftop which occupied the better part of a quarter mile, encompassing each and every group present. People milled about, the crowd forever growing as teens dressed in leather scurried about preparing themselves for the races. Immediately, Shippo felt accepted and at ease around the crowd; they all looked just like him and the others.

The RV pulled to a stop in the parking area, where many shimmering sports cars were already parked, and killed the engine, letting out a woop of excitement as he bounded down the stairs to stretch his stiff legs. The others followed quickly behind him, forgetting momentarily about Kouga and Inuyasha's fight that morning; Race Wars quelled worries right out of the hat.

"Holy crap," Shippo murmured as he stood with the others on the concrete, observing the line of impressive cars. As a mechanic and general enthusiast, he had a great appreciation for each and every vehicle, shining with wax and chocked full of hard work. He could almost imaging the engines beneath the hoods, but a voice interrupted his before he could continue.

"Yeah, impressive, isn't it?" Miroku asked his young friend, giving the kitsune a reassuring pat on the back. "Just like the warehouse, only bigger."

"Right," Shippo murmured, walking numbly behind the others as Sesshomaru led the pack towards their tent. As they walked, several people waved and others whispered behind their hands, muttering to their friends as the infamous Tokyo South came strolling by. Kagome blinked at the attention, shifting her eyes sideways to Inuyasha, who seemed completely unaffected by the attention.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered confusedly, furrowing her brow. "What's going on with all these people?"

"We're pretty famous around here," the hanyou replied with a shrug, unimpressed to say the least. Kagome couldn't understand what about this was unimpressive; they were practically superstars at Race Wars and she hadn't even known.

Rin waved light heartedly to people as she passed, some who she knew on a first name basis and some who she didn't know at all; as Sesshomaru watched his girlfriend trying to ease the crowd, he couldn't help but release a small smile. That was something he'd always enjoyed about Rin: her sheer uncaring when it came to the status or position of others. She could make conversations with a perfect stranger and not bat an eyelash; it was remarkable. And he loved that.

Finally, the group arrived at a rather large tent, a brilliant firetruck red which flapped slightly in the wind. Beneath it were several strategically placed chairs and tables, along with a peculiar looking device which sat on the table. Sesshomaru walked calmly under the tarp and took a seat, sighing and crossing his arms. "And we're finally here."

"Says the man who didn't drive eight hours straight," Miroku mumbled, sitting down sorely in a chair beside his leader before taking off his boots.

Sango nodded in agreement, letting out a stream of air. "I don't see what's so wrong with stopping for food or something."

"It's all about conserving time; it will all be worth it in the end," came Sesshomaru's irritatingly vague reply.

The others began filling the chairs in a steady stream until Bankotsu took a seat in the last one, leaving Shitora standing haughtily just beneath the tarp's shadow. She crossed her arms pertly over her chest, cocking her hip moodily to one side. "Hey, I wanna sit!"

Bankotsu started to stand, saying, "Here, have m-"

"Naw, there's no reason for that Bank. Put your tiny ass here, Sukini," Ranbou remarked boredly from his seat, gesturing to his open lap. Shitora's face was a thing of wonder as she observed the wolf with dinner plate eyes, taking in his completely serious expression haltingly.

The others didn't even spare the scene a glance, wrapped up in their own conversations as they tried valliantly to will away the dry desert heat, and Ranbou cocked an eyebrow at Shitora's hesitation. "Sukini? You hear me?"

"What? Yeah," Shitora said rather quickly, ears swiveling madly about like little white satellites. Not wanting to seem cowardly, she took a seat on Ranbou's lap and found herself completely balanced, not teetering like lap seats normally defined. Ranbou's legs were strong and lean, as wolf's tended to be, and she adjusted herself rather placidly. This was a comfortable seat, however much she hated to admit it.

"Geez Sukini, it's like you ain't even there. Do you eat at _all?_" Ranbou asked bluntly, eyebrows raised to a skeptical angle.

Bristling with indignation, Shitora barked sharply in reply, "Of course I eat, I eat my fuckin' share. I just got a fast metabolism, that's all."

"Sure, sure," Ranbou replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the response; he couldn't remember a time when he'd seen Shitora eat other than a burger she'd once brought him. Together they'd sat in his room eating burgers, talking about whatever came to mind; that had been an interesting day, he recalled, smiling slightly.

Meanwhile, Kagome covered her mouth demurely as she found herself consumed by a rather large yawn. "I think I'll go to bed early tonight," she mentioned, eyes half hooded wearily.

But beside her, Inuyasha gave a derisive snort. "Not fuckin' likely, babe. We party tonight."

"Party?" Kagome echoed confusedly.

Inuyasha nodded. "Every year, we have a party on the first night to open the races. Dancing, drinking, smoking, stripping, you name it, it goes on at this party."

Unable to ignore the somewhat lustful look in her boyfriend's eye, Kagome frowned and glanced thoughtfully up at the sky. "Well in that case, I might have to ask Rin to borrow some clothes for the occassion. Nothing I brought is...party like. Any preferences on what I wear?" The girl was smiling craftily, knowing what kind of answer she'd receive, but she still couldn't help but ask the obvious question.

At the thought of Kagome in tight little leather outfits, Inuyasha began to drool unconciously. "Uh...something...short? Leather. Yeah, leather. Red. I like red."

Giggling, Kagome repeated, "So, something short, leather and red. I'll see what I can do."

"Yes!" Inuyasha exclaimed quietly, grinning as Kagome reached over to tweak his ear. He evaded the attempt and rounded on her, proceeding to tickle her in all the most sensetive places. She let out a shriek of surprise and was soon laughing hysterically, ignoring the smiles radiating from her spectating friends.

"Yeah, baby, what are you wearing?" Kouga asked Ayame, who was hugging her knees to her chest in the chair beside him.

With a smirk, Ayame replied, "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Yeah, it's a surprise; we'll all be wearing something hot, though," Rin assured the boys, winking flirtatiously. Sesshomaru came up swiftly behind her, leaning down until his mouth was right at her ear.

"I prefer it when you wear nothing."

At his sensual voice vibrating through her eardrum, Rin gave an involuntary shudder and then gasped, smacking her boyfriend across the chest. He merely smiled before exchanging glances with an amused Akago. Was this the sort of behavior he'd been missing in the North?

"Quite a culture shock, isn't it?" Gan murmured, as though he could read Akago's thoughts.

"Indeed. Why don't we take a walk, Gan? Scope out our surroundings and whatever," Akago replied rather vaguely, waving his wrist back and forth unnecessarily. Gan gave a brief nod and the two rose, making their way quietly out of the tent while the others talked excitedly about the upcoming party.

The two friends walked in silence for a while, observing the many different gangs and brightly detailed cars in their own quiet way. Gan appeared apathetic on the outside, but on the inside, she fluttered around rather crazily just as she did whenever she and Akago were alone. Shaking her head slightly, Gan tried to will away such ridiculous thoughts and notions. _Look, kid, you're not here for reasons romantic, pleasurable or self-indulging. Every reason keeping your here revolves around necessity, like the necessity to breath and eat and sleep in a safe bed. You've survived three years undercover and you haven't been caught yet; revealing yourself to Akago would only put you in danger! Remember what father said, find a hiding place and don't come out until the Yakuza's lost interest in the family. "Don't come out" includes not spreading around the fact that you have boobs and a vagina, okay? Okay. Just making sure we're all on the same page. God, now I'm talking to myself like there's two of me, which is a stupid habit since I've been alone for...a while. Alone. Just me. Living a lie. And now I'm feeling sorry for myself, God, stop being such a woman about it! Well, shit, you are a woman, I mean _I'm _a woman, I mean...crap!_

"Gan, you look troubled."

Jerking out of her inner monologue, Gan slipped easily into the slightly deeper tone she'd been using for three years. "Troubled? Do I? No, I'm not troubled. I'm...confused."

The Shark leader furrowed his white brow slightly, clasping his hands behind his back in thought. "Oh? About what?"

"Truthfully, I'm confused about my family," Gan admitted, allowing herself to think this was slightly truthful; she was, afterall, remembering her father's words. So what was so wrong about that answer? Nothing. And truly, despite her gender confusion, Gan hated to lie to anyone, especially Akago. If she couldn't tell the whole truth, at least she could tell half.

At the word "family," Akago gave a rueful smile. "A confusion we all have, to be sure. You've never really told me anything about your family, Gan."

Chuckling darkly, Gan gave a weary shrug. "My family is a thing of the past. Simply put, my father bet my brothers and I in a poker game and lost us to the Yakuza. He ran home, horrified, and told us all to pack up and run away as fast as we could and as far as we could. He wouldn't allow us to go together, saying it would make us a target for the mob, so we scattered. That's all there was to us."

Akago looked curiously at the smaller boy for a moment, crimson eyes sparkling with interest. "Hm. He _bet _you?"

"He was a drunk, and, for lack of a better word, a fuck."

Now, while Gan cussed occasionally, Akago was unused to hearing his friend use such derogatory language with such a light tone. "I'm sorry he was so careless," Akago said quietly, glancing at Gan with a carefully chosen crimson eye. "My own father was just as bad."

"You never did tell me why you and Kanna left the house," Gan confessed, his own violet stare intercepting Akago's.

The demon shrugged, replying rather dismissively, "After my mother's death he drank himself into a hole and the rest was history. I'm afraid it's a very uninteresting story."

"Uninteresting is sometimes good," Gan laughed humorlessly. "With interesting plots comes complications for the characters, don't you agree?"

Sighing slightly, Akago allowed himself a small smile. "Indeed I do. Well, I pulled you out because I felt something was wrong. Now that it's resolved, we may go back to quietly observing the animalistic habits of our new company."

"They're weird, aren't they?" Gan mused, shaking his head at the thought of Sesshomaru and his followers.

Akago shrugged. "It's all relative, my friend, all relative to be sure."

And with this, the two "boys" turned on their heels and looped back around towards the tent. Everyone had preparations to make in order to ensure the night's entertainment and, while the girls rushed off to get dressed, the boys met with old friends and gossiped the hours away. The night promised to be an interesting one for all involved. And therefore complicated for its characters.

"Do I look like a slut?"

"Well, that depends. What do you want me to say?"

"Duh, I'm not going to tell you before you answer. Then you'll just say what I want to hear."

"And what's so wrong with that?"

"Um...nothing, I guess, but I want your honest, serious, 100 truthful opinion."

"Okay...well, if you wore it to the mall, you'd definitely be a slut. But tonight you might just be the only girl with her top on. So you don't look like a slut."

Ayame glanced up from her magazine to observe this conversation, which took place in front of the bathroom mirror between Kagome and Sango. Kagome was worried that her red leather miniskirt and black corset looked slutty which, in Ayame's opinion, they most certainly did. Of course, her opinion was quite conservative compared to her friends; it's not as though anyone would take her advice seriously. Glancing down at her own ensemble of white leather pants and a red halter top, Ayame shrugged and returned to her magazine; she could really care less what people thought of her. It was what she thought of herself that really mattered.

"Hey, does anyone have a red bra?"

The girls glanced up at Rin's call and Shitora's voice responded quickly. "Yeah, what size?"

"Double D."

"Yeah, here."

Souten's eyes grew wide and she addressed Ayame from across the table. "Isn't that really big?"

At this the wolf demon only snorted and continued to thumb through Mechanics Weekly. Kagome answered smoothly, "Size is relative when it comes to boobs. But, as an innocent bystander, yes, that's absolutely huge."

"Huge and uncovered; the story of Rin and Shitora's breasts," Ayame joked dryly, never looking up from her reading.

Sango and Kagome finally stepped out of the bathroom, primped and made up to perfection. Sango felt rather risque this night and was wearing a black miniskirt with matching leather tube top. Souten observed the two girls side by side, taking in their equally revealing ensembles before noting disdainfully, "Ya'll look like ho's."

Shrugging, Sango replied, "I try to be pretty virginal during the year, but Race Wars is an excuse to dress like a slut. I'm not ashamed."

"Me neither," Kagome chimed in brightly. "It's liberating; you should try it, Souten."

At this point, Ayame actually glanced up from her magazine. "She's eleven."

"Well, no time like the present."

Before Ayame could reply, the two bedroom doors in the back burst open and two scantily clad figures burst out, exclaiming simultaneously, "We're ready!"

Souten's jaw positively came unhinged as she observed both Rin and Shitora, who brought a whole new meaning to the word "bare." Shitora wore a black bikini top and a black miniskirt which barely covered her ass. Rin, who was perhaps the more blinding of the two, wore a pair of red leather short shorts and Shitora's red bra. Perhaps you were reading on expecting more, but that's all you're going to get; yes, it was just that bad.

Ayame groaned and allowed her head to drop on the table. "Holy shit, my friends are hookers."

"Yeah, sexy hookers," Shitora fired back, grinning wildly as she slapped triumphant hands with Rin.

Sango blinked. "I think they missed the insult there."

"Mhmm," Kagome agreed, shaking her head slowly; this quite the sight to behold.

Shrugging, the girls gathered en masse and grabbed their jackets from the couches, hurrying down the stairs of the RV. The night outside was warm and alight with excitement, issuing mainly from the screaming crowd near the runways. Several ridiculously large SUVs were positioned around an area of concrete, connected by wires and blaring a simultaneous beat; people and demons of all shapes and sizes were gravitating towards the music, hypnotized by the methodical thumping of the bass.

Some intelligent person had possessed the foresight to bring spotlights, which lit the makeshift dance floor to a moderate degree, sillhouetting shadows as they twirled and grinded on the pavement. Kagome's eyes practically lit aflame as she listened to the music; she absolutely loved to dance.

Seeing that several people were already there, Rin grinned and said, "Alright girls, let's go."

The group was about to approach the crowd when a voice called, "Wait just one damn minute."

Whirling about quickly in their stiletto heels, the girls felt their bodies quiver at the sight of the boys, dressed in muscle shirts and jeans with their jackets proclaiming their gangs proudly on their backs. Inuyasha crossed his arms, observing the girls accusingly. "You ain't suppsed to go anywhere without one of us, remember?"

Deciding to quell an argument before it began, Kagome giggled and sauntered up to her boyfriend, whose expression softened at the sight of long, bare legs and a thin line of cleavage. "We were just coming to find you, Yash!"

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes as his baby brother was rendered momentarily speechless and he sighed, allowing his eyes to drift to his own girlfriend. Rin grinned excitedly and bounded up to him, chest bouncing around in the scant red bra. "Sesshy!"

Wrapping a protective arm around his girlfriend's waist, Sesshomaru said quietly, "Stay close to me Rin. I don't want you running around alone in...that."

"Oh, you don't like it?" Rin asked, pretending to be hurt as she showed off her outfit.

Licking dry lips, Sesshomaru replied serenely, "No, I like it Rin. I would just prefer if I was the only one liking it...rather the only one liking it enough to _touch _it"

Rin smiled and gave a chipper nod, sensing her boyfriend's discomfort; she knew how important her safety was to him and she wasn't about to ruin her night over some stupid fight. Really, she was flattered by his vigilance.

Ayame and Sango were laughing over something when Sango let out a sharp gasp, turning around with her hand poised to smack her daring attacker. Miroku only grinned, catching Sango's hand in mid blow, before leaning down to claim her lips; Ayame could barely see his other hand still firmly grasping her leather clad ass cheek, which she didn't seem to mind at the moment.

Kouga kissed his girlfriend briefly on the lips, furrowing his brow at her disdainful expression. "Something wrong, Aya?"

"Please promise to never grab my ass in public," the redhead almost whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder; it was calming to take in his scent, a wild one of cigarettes and pine leaves.

Chuckling, Kouga replied, "Only in private, if you so wish, milady."

"Yeah, private is fine," Ayame giggled, cheeks blushing a pretty red which caused Kouga to grow rather hot under the collar. It was amazing how one smile could do that to a love struck man.

While the couples doted upon one another, trading compliments and kisses alike, Shitora tried to ignore the tugging in her gut. It seemed to be pulling her backwards, which seemed like a strange direction to go, but she followed her instincts and took one daring look over her shoulder. Her eyes fell immediately on Ranbou, whose hands were placed easily in his jean pockets as he smoked a cigarette; the way his hair fell just perfectly before his ice blue eyes sent a shiver down her spine. His muscular body was even more obvious in his tight black sleevless shirt, though she couldn't see most of him because of his jacket. _Hopefully, _she thought, _he'll get so hot he has to take it off...holy shit, where's that comin' from? Ew, I'm starting to sound like Rin! Or Kagome! Jesus! Get outta my head!_

While Shitora berated her concious, Ranbou raised his glance and took in the sight of a barely clothed Shitora Taisho, which he had to admit was pleasing. Ever since he could remember, Ranbou had admired pefect butts; as Shitora turned away to hide her blush, Ranbou caught sight of his number one favorite ass and grinned. Yes, this night was starting out just perfectly.

"Sukini," he greeted marginally as he approached her, smoke drifting lazily from his cigarette.

Shitora's heart leapt at his voice and she whirled about, finding his broad chest clouding her vision. Tonight, she was slightly taller because of her heels, but the sum wasn't much; she was still a good seven inches short of his impressive height. "Bo," she replied, swallowing her uncertainties. Maybe if she just ignored her attraction to him, it would go away. Yeah. There we go.

"You ain't gonna go chargin' off with anyone tonight, are ya?" Ranbou continued conversationally, casting a calculative blue eye over the girl.

To this, Shitora snorted and crossed her arms. "That depends."

"On what?"

"On how fast his car is," Shitora replied with a mysterious wink, provoking a laugh from Ranbou despite himself.

"C'mon, Sukini, let's go," he said, still laughing as they followed the group towards the thumping light and defeaning music.

As the Fangs approached, several peopled on the crowd's edge gave a hearty cheer, raising the beer bottles to the sky; the inner crowd soon followed, realizing that the life of the party was finally here. Tokyo gangs were reknowned for their street smarts and partying habits. Every year, they danced the hardest, smoked the longest and drank the most; no doubt, this year would be the same.

"Woohoo!" Rin called, grabbing an ice cold beer from one of the cooler tubs before beginning to chug it vigorously.

Several of the others followed suite, grabbing their boyfriends and girlfriends before heading out on the dance floor. Souten lingered behind, staring at the crowd with some hesitation, before Shippo grinned and held out his hand to her. "Come on, Souten; let's dance."

Shitora grinned as the two youngsters dissolved into the crowd, no doubt to have their first real grinding experience, and she glanced back at Ranbou. "I'm gonna go dancing too. You coming?"

Nodding slightly, Ranbou replied, "Lemme finish my cigarette, I'll be right behind you."

With a wave, Shitora danced her way into the crowd, pushing through sweaty bodies with a light gleaming happily in her eyes; she simply loved the rush which came with dancing in large groups and she couldn't wait to dance with one certain wolf demon. Just as she thought this, however, she happened to bump violently into someone's shoulder before lurching backwards. A strong arm caught her and she blinked, looking full into the face of a vaguely familiar Cobra, an ox demon with a forgetable name.

"Sorry about that, I'm a fucking bull in a China shop," the boy joked good naturedly at his own heritage, handsome face breaking into a smile.

Shrugging Shitora pulled herself upright with his helpful hand, rolling her shoulders routinely. "No problem; its crazy out here."

"Yeah," the boy replied, red eyes reflecting the gleam of the spotlight; Shitora could almost remember his face from several races, during which he was always close to Bankotsu and his brothers. Those red eyes of his were familiar, framed and overshadowed by strands of waywards black hair. Something about him was wild and dangerous; perhaps a little to dangerous.

"I'm Shitora Taisho," she said finally, sticking out her hand to shake.

The boy let loose a booming laugh, replying rather drunkenly, "Hell girl, I know, who doesn't know that? I'm Bokoru. I'm one of Bank's trick riders."

"Oh yeah, that's how I know you," Shitora exclaimed, grinning at the realization. "Having a good time, Bokoru?"

But before the Cobra could answer, Shitora felt a leaden hand on her shoulder. Ranbou's presence was unmistakable as he loomed over her, chest touching her back as he practically molded against her. "Who the hell are you?"

Bokoru blinked before cocking a slender black eyebrow. "Why should I tell you?"

"Cause I fucking wanna know, that's why," Ranbou replied sharply, ice blue eyes fading towards a frighteningly pure white. Shitora felt his hand tighten on her shoulder and realized, suddenly, that the wolf was jealous. While she would've normally been flattered by such a show of affection, he was being rather predatorial and, dare she say, possessive at the moment. The very thought of the word possessive sent lances of irritation down her neck; she was no man's property.

"Lay off, Bo," she commanded, breaking away from his hold.

Ranbou seemed slightly surprised by her defiance, but replied nonetheless. "This guy's a sleeze, Sukini, come over here."

"Excuse me?" Shitora practically screamed, though no one took any notice over the ridiculously loud rap music. "You don't even know him, Ranbou, besides, I'm not yours to call anywhere!"

"Don't be a dumbass!" Ranbou replied, eyes narrowing.

"What the fuck! Who do you think you are!" Shitora shouted hotly, amber eyes flashing a telling gold.

"Doesn't matter! What matters is that you get the fuck away from this assfucker!" came Ranbou's crude response. The way his eyes blazened with anger only furthered Shitora's own wrath and she let out a screech of half indignation and half defeat.

"Fuck you, wolf boy!" Shitora shouted before turning rebelliously on her heels, grabbing Bokoru's hand before leading the bewildered boy away from that portion of the dance floor.

Ranbou could only watch as Shitora led Bokoru in the opposite direction, knowing that if he tried to grab her she would only resist him, making the situation worse. But still, a ringing in the back of his mind worked insistently away at his already growing headache; something was incredibly wrong with that Bokoru character, he was sure of it. The ox demon hadn't cause any noticeable trouble during his gang days, but something about him rubbed Ranbou the wrong way. Shaking his head, Ranbou retreated back towards the edge of the crowd, taking a seat in South Tokyo's designated seating area.

The wolf demon nervously lit another cigarette as he glanced around the crowd, trying to catch sight of Shitora and Bokoru. When he saw none he sighed, leaning back to glance up at the sky; the stars twinkled obliviously above, smiling down on the sinful pit of hormonally charged teens. How little the stars knew.

On the other side of the crowd, nearest one of the speakers, Kagome and Inuyasha were grinding front to front, never breaking eye contact as they did so. Inuyasha's eyes continually drifted down to her lips and Kagome began to grow nervous, knowing that the two hadn't shared a real mouth to mouth kiss yet. Sure, she kissed him on the cheek and he kissed her on the neck, but they'd never actually _kissed. _As Kagome saw it, however, it was only a matter of time; the way they were growing progressively closer was practically foreshadowing.

Sango, who was grinding back to front with Miroku, was smiling at Kagome's nervousness when she caught sight of a familiar group of teens making their way through the crowd. She frowned, leaning back to speak to Miroku. "Look who's here."

Miroku glanced up, taking in the less than pleasurable sight of Naraku and his cronies worming their way across the dance floor, pushing couples out of the way as they went. Sesshomaru, who was grinding with Rin less the ten feet from his friend, had already sense trouble, however. Placing a protective hand on Rin's waist, he held her close as they worked their way back towards the others.

Naraku's crimson eyes displayed his distaste as he set them on Sesshomaru, none of his false politeness and mock sincerity present that night. "Where's Akago?" he asked bluntly, arms crossed angrily over his chest. Kagura, who was practically hanging off him, narrowed her eyes at the name before allowing her glance to drift over Naraku's shoulder. There stood Kanna, whose pale white face displayed little or no emotion. At the sound of her brother's name, the girl's bottomless black eyes barely even gave a flash of recognitino and Kagura smirked, blood red lips twisting into a gnarled monstrosity of a smile. Things were as they should be, if not for Akago's betrayal.

"Give it up, Naraku, you lost him," came Sesshomaru's reply. The seriousness in his amber eyes silenced Naraku's snarling lackies, but not the leader himself.

"It's not about winning and losing, Sesshomaru, it's about power," came Naraku's vicious reply, after which he threw Kagura away from his shoulder before stalking forward. "It's about getting what you want no matter what the cost. You should know that by now."

"I'm not so heartless," came Sesshomaru's cold reply.

Naraku snorted, hair waving slightly in a passing breeze amongst the dancing party goers. "And that will be your undoing."

"No. You're heartlessness will be yours," Sesshomaru said with a certain finality, turning on his heels with Rin at his side. "We're done here." His friends, who had gathered behind him to provide feesable back up, nodded and prepared to follow him when Kagura caught sight of something incredibly interesting. Every member of that group had a jacket except for one bare back, one which belonged to that new girl, Kagome her name was. Not quite recovered from Naraku's rejection, Kagura decided to have some fun.

"Still not a Wildcat Kagome? What a shame," she jeered, earning gasps and giggled from the scantily clad Vixens behind her.

At the sound of her name, Kagome turned to face the girl and frowned, asking pointedly, "What the hell do you want?"

"I don't want anything; you're the little ho fucking the leader's brother, trying to get a jacket," Kagura replied cheaply, beautiful face growing evil and ugly in the light.

Kagome's expression suddenly lost its confusion and she snarled angrily, "That's not how it is. Inuyasha has nothing to do with that."

"Oh really? Why do you think you're not a Wildcat yet? Because Inuyasha knows he'll lose an easy fuck as soon as you've got nothing to bargain for," Kagura shot back, pushing her breasts forward as she threw her dark head like an untamed show horse.

By this time, Inuyasha and the others were working their way back through the crowd, trying to recover Kagome and stop her from getting into something dangerous. "Says the slut who fucks everything with a dick and a pleasure," came Kagome's equally vicious reply.

Inuyasha practically gasped at the raunchiness of Kagome's reply, surprised by her show of strength; frankly, it was getting him kind of hot. Rin, however, rocketed forward and grabbed Kagome by the arm, beginning to drag her backwards desperately. "C'mon Kagome, leave it!"

"What the hell did you say you little whore!" Kagura screamed dangerously, crimson eyes flashing before she began to make her way threateningly towards her opponent.

"That's right, you heard me!" Kagome called, despite her cousin's vicious attempts to drag her backwards.

"Yeah, well good luck trying to get into the Wildcats, sweetie! They're fuckin' trash!" Kagura yelled irately.

But Kagome only laughed wildly, voice audible even as Rin continued to pull at her arm. "They're worth forty times as much as you're ho's, Kagura! Good luck trying to get a fuck tonight!" And with that, the renegade girl was gone.

Kagura was speechless with fury and surprise, but Naraku only watched the entire scene with an analytical eye. Kagura did have a point, he noted; until the Wildcats were over Kikyo's sudden sickness and desertion, they would never induct an other member into the gang. As far as Naraku could tell, that Kagome girl was not only beautiful, but also an integral part of Sesshomaru's operation; everyone liked her, she did a good deal of the paperwork, and she was dating Inuyasha. As Naraku saw it, this would make Kagome a valuable asset in the North.

"Let's go," he said simply, turning on his heels as the group followed dutifully, leaving a spluttering Kagura in their wake.

Sesshomaru had taken one of his gangs, half of his cars, and most of his pride; Naraku would see to it that he regained ten fold what he lost. That was a promise.

Shitora laughed as Bokoru made a particularly funny comment, throwing her head back in the warm night air. She'd been trying to forget her recent fight with Ranbou and, to do so, she'd excused herself and her new friend from the dance floor and they were now walking aimlessly around the quiet tent area, enjoying the near silence and each other's company. Sure, Bokoru was a nice guy, but Shitora had really taken him with her to further Ranbou's anger. She was being childish and passive agressive, she knew, but so was Ranbou; and eye for an eye and all that.

"Yeah, it was embarassing, but everyone falls when they're learning a new trick," Bokoru confessed, oxen shoulders shrugging as he imparted his trick riding knowledge to the girl beside him.

Nodding menially, Shitora glanced down at her watch and sighed; her anger was actually beginning to wane and she kind of wanted to get back to the party. "Cool. Well, thanks for this, Bokoru, but I should really be getting back."

She turned to go but soon found a hand enclosed around her wrist, accompanied by a small sounding, "Don't go."

She turned slightly to find her face mere inches from Bokoru's as he bore down upon her, stroking her cheek with rough knuckles. "Stay." With this, he leaned down and their lips met softly, much to Shitora's surprise. She was too stunned to do anything for a moment, frozen by the feeling of his lips on hers, but she soon placed her hands gently on his chest and pushed him away.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I'm...I'm not...I really should get back."

This time, she made it a few feet before Bokoru called out, "What, you belong to that wolf?"

The girl stopped confusedly, furrowing her brow before turning to face the ox demon. "What?"

"You're fucking Ookami, huh?" Bokoru reitterated, shaking his head rather stiffly as he took a few steps towards her. Shitora was feeling rather uneasy about the look in his eyes. "Getting up next to the leader of the Reikons, is that it?"

"No that is fucking not it!" Shitora replied heatedly, fists clenching as her sharp fangs barred angrily in the front of her mouth. "We're not together, okay?"

"Oh yeah? So then why can't I do this!" Bokoru lunged forward, grabbing Shitora's wrists and crushing his lips boldly against hers. Shitora let out a sound of outrage against his mouth, preparing to kick him away with her shuddering legs when he pushed her backwards deftly, sending her crashing into a nearby tent. He soon had her pressed against an overturned lawn chair, legs and body holding her against the floor with his oxen strength.

His breathing grew ragged and Bokoru muttered against her lips, "Oh yeah, baby, you like it dirty, huh?"

Trying to bit the boy's lip, Shitora squirmed valliantly beneath his hold, but his full demon ox powers were too much for her own hanyou dog ones. It became apparent soon enough that Bokoru was doing this for more than a few simple stolen kisses. Shitora's eyes rolled madly about in her head as she tried to look for any way out of this predicament, but she couldn't move a single part of her body; Bokoru's strength was just too immense. She could fell his sweaty skin upon hers, smell the rancid scent of his unwashed body, hear his ragged breathing echoing in her ears. He tasted like chewing tobacco and blood; Shitora thought for a moment that she was going to throw up in her mouth.

For the first time in her life, Shitora Taisho was experiencing pure hopeless and unadulterated fear; never before had she found herself in a situation so devoid of an obvious exit. It seemed as though there was nothing she could to save herself from the loss of her virginity or the scarring of her physche and immediately, terrifying thoughts began rushing through her head. After this, her life would never be the same, her friends would look at her differently, she would never know true happiness because some bastard had stolen it from her. In that moment, Shitora couldn't think, couldn't cry, and couldn't breathe; Bokoru was going to rape her and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

In one split second, as Bokoru bit Shitora's lip and reached a grimy hand up her skirt, Shitora wished for death over the defiling of her body; even as she lay there, immobile, Bokoru's powerful leg was crushing her abdomen and sending her into a state of hypoxia, pain engulfed her midriff. Spots danced before her eyes as the taste of blood poisoned her tongue, making her pray for either divine intervention or a swift death. Fortunately for her, neither option was necessary.

An ear splitting howl, laced with pain, anger and a heart stopping desire to kill, piereced the night air and a wrathful figure was upon Bokoru. Shitora gasped as his lips left her and she fought for breath from her crushed lungs, choking on the blood filling her throat; she could still fell the ox demons hands on her body, lifting up her shirt, reaching for her most private areas. She lay there, huddled in a ball as the far away sounds of growling, breaking and pained cries echoed dully in her ears; she could barely even hear them, she was so frozen.

Ranbou Ookami had struggled with Inuyasha's random demon transformation for some time, wondering what could possess a man to abandon his self control over a woman. It wasn't until the moment he discovered Bokoru defiling Shitora on the ground that he understood the full extent of Inuyasha's anger; as Bokoru's terrified mouth screamed for the furious wolf to stop, Ranbou couldn't hear a word. He didn't know what his face looked like at that moment, lips curled back to display sharp fangs, eyes white hot, brow all but invisible against his hair line. He couldn't quite make out the sight of his own claws as they swooped down upon Bokoru's now mangled body, like deadly pendulums with their nails drawing deep canyons in the ox demon's chest. He wasn't even sure what words poured from his lips, ancient wolf tongue cursing Bokoru and his ancestors so violently that even the gods covered their ears. But frankly, Ranbou didn't give a damn. Bokoru had tried to rape Shitora, and for that he would die.

Shitora coughed violently, eyes burning as frightened tears squeezed from their corners. It had been quite some time since Shitora actually cried out of fear or sadness, probably since her mother died those four years ago, but the thought of what might've happened loomed over her head, drawing dark curtains over her every day fearless mask. As she lay there, wretched, sick, hurt and dirty from a man's hands, Shitora choked out a broken sob.

At an all too familiar sound, Ranbou's heart seemed to stop and he paused, ignoring the deadening silence of the unconcious demon below him. The sound came again, one he hadn't heard for some time now, but Ranbou knew it deep within his heart. He turned slowly, taking in the sight of a wretched Shitora curled up in a protective ball on the ground, sobbing. He'd only heard that sound once before, the day her mother died, but he never dreamed he'd hear it again under circumstances such as these. Bokoru's body all but forgotten, Ranbou hurried towards Shitora, kneeling down before her.

"Sukini," he whispered huskily, practically crying himself from witnessing her in such a state. He could see the bruises on her wrists forming, see the blood flowing from her open mouth, and it terrified him. He knew the injuries weren't life threatening, but still; it was his Shitora that was hurting.

"Ran, h-he..." she stuttered out, unable to finish as another cough engulfed her body, sending blood flying from her callously torn lip.

"Sh," Ranbou quieted her, reaching down before gently lifting her broken body into his arms. She stiffened momentarily before relaxing, convincing herself that Ranbou and Bokoru were completely different people. She trusted Ranbou with her life, though she might never tell him that, and just the thought of him made her feel safe. "We've gotta get you help."

"N-no," Shitora hiccuped, as Ranbou began walking slowly along the line of tents, trying not to jar his fragile cargo. "Th-the RV, I c-can't let...p-please, I..."

"Alright, alright," Ranbou agreed quietly, easing the girls nerves as he set his course towards the RV, making sure to bypass the part and all those surrounding it. As soon as his anger had come, it had vanished, replace by concern, sadness and, most of all, regret. If only he'd been more insistent and not let her go, if only he'd been more vigilant. If only he'd protected her like he'd promised himself he would...but he hadn't. And now she rested, hurt and bleeding in his arms, as he carried her lamely towards the van. He couldn't do anything else for her and that killed him, right through his busted heart.

The girl's RV was dark and quiet, as the others wouldn't be back from the party for sometime now. Opening the door with one hand, Ranbou carried Shitora carefully up the stairs before moving towards the back, depositing her on the bed in the left most bedroom; he could smell her scent permeating that place and knew she was sleeping there.

After Ranbou set her down on the bed, Shitora shuddered and her ears gave an involuntary twitch. "I-I need a shower," she choked out, tears still flowing unbidden down her cheeks.

The wolf nodded dumbly. "Yeah, go on. I'll be here."

Just those words, three insignificant words, set Shitora's mind at ease and she let out a ragged breath, nodding her head before stumbling towards the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Ranbou listened to the sound of the shower turning on, water flowing through the small RV pipes before flowing down upon Shitora's thin form. Inside, Shitora used a sponge to practically scrub off her top layer of skin, wanting to erase every reminder or Bokoru and the damage he'd done her. After a while, Shitora's mind began to return and the tears came to a natural stop. That was right, she reminded herself, Ranbou had saved her, she still had her virginity, and Bokoru was all but dead on the concrete somewhere. It had all turned out okay and she was safe. She just had to keep reminding herself of that. Still, she felt so..._dirty._

When she exited the shower, toweling off her body with her damp hair clinging to sun kissed skin, she grabbed a random pair of shorts and shirt which someone had left on the counter. Black bed shorts and a white wifebeater, nothing special, though at the current time she didn't feel so special anyway. She opened the door to be met with a blast of cold air as she made her way back towards the bedroom to talk to Ranbou. When she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed however, head in his hands and breathing quiet, she couldn't find the words to say.

"Ran," she began, only to find herself cut off by a sudden movement.

Completely unthreatening, Ranbou rose from the bed and crossed the distance between them in two large strides, wrapping her in his strong arms and pulling her close to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Sukini. If I could just...If only I'd pushed that dumbshit away, pulled you back...I'm so fuckin' sorry. I...I'm...I'm sorry." It seemed as though the wolf demon couldn't even find the words to say as he stood there, holding Shitora close to him as though to reassure himself of her presence.

Shitora returned his hug, wrapping thin arms around his broad back and pressing her face to his chest; he was just so safe, a haven where she knew worldly things would never harm her. "It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault but his."

"I'll never let that happen again, I fucking swear." Pulling back his head slightly, Ranbou captured Shitora's amber eyes with his determined ice blue ones, which seemed to sparkle rather brightly if only for a moment. "I'll never let anyone fucking hurt you again."

In a completely different manner from her earlier experience, Shitora found herself drawn naturally towards Rabou's lips and his to hers. Before another word could be spoken, she found herself kissing Ranbou Ookami, the man she thought she could never love. Rude, arrogant, conceited and demanding, he was just the sort of person she'd sworn to despise, no matter what the circumstances, but there was nothing she could do; against her will, she'd fallen for her greatest enemy. As they stood there, embracing warmly with their lips locked in a peaceful harmony, Shitora knew his words were true; he would do everything in his power to never let harm come to her again.

When the two broke apart, staring at each other with a sense of wonderment, Shitora whispered, "Is this really happening?"

"I think so," Ranbou mused, ice blue eyes narrowed confusedly. "I guess...I dunno."

Shitora leaned up and engaged him in another kiss, breaking it quickly, with an equally befuddled look. "Yeah, it's happening. But...how?"

"I dunno," Ranbou murmured, reaching down a large hand to brush his thumb tenderly across Shitora's bottom lip. "But I fucking like it."

With this, the wolf let loose a grin, one which mirrored that of the girl before him, and he leaned down to capture her lips in another heart stopping kiss. _The Ace of Spades, huh? _Shitora thought to herself, smiling through the kiss and she locked her arms around Ranbou's neck. _Well, I guess I took a chance after all. And it was worth it. Really worth it. I could've lived without the whole Bokoru part, but I'll never have to worry about things like that again. _

_Because I have him. I'll always be safe. Happy. Loved. _

And she would be.

**Okay, long chapter, with a lot of important shit in it, ne? I hooked them up, but it was hard and took about two hours. Next chapter is some sweet racing action, complete with lots of couple time. Hope you guys liked it, thanks for all the reviews! I hope we break 200 before this is all over! Love.**

**KOLU**


	22. I'm not giving up I swear

**Hey guys! I'm writing chapter 22 as we speak, it's just taking a while to get through some stuff. Sorry about that; school's about to start and I'm messing with SAT shit and Theater shit and Work shit and I'm about to...shit a brick. But I thought I'd make a request to tide you over until I'm done with the chapter:**

**/FAN ART/**

**...Are you an artist or just love to draw in general? Please help me out with some fanart of couples or of original characters. I'd like some of Ranbou, Shitora and the Niku. Kei and Nanashi would also be cool, then some group shots if possible. I draw but I can't get some of them just the way I want. Please, please help me out! Email me at my NEW EMAIL: Kolu02 at yahoo dot com.  
**

** It won't let me use the "at" sign on fanfiction dot net. Nor will it let me use dots. **

**By the way, thanks to Kirara Satsuke and I'm sorry that my emails wouldn't go through; yahoo kept sending that stupid Mailer Daemon notice and saying your email didn't exist, which I'm sure it does. I was gonna say please do fan art, I would be incredibly honored.**

**Also thanks to my new stalker, Ungrateful Sinner of the South. Being stalked it also an...honor. Haha.**

**KOLU**


	23. Race Wars II

**And yet another chapter! Woot! Thank you so much for everyone's great reviews, they make me so happy. I love to know people like the story because it makes me want to keep writing; lots of people say its there favorite and I've never been more flattered in my life. Thanks to all of ya'll and your compliments, it makes me feel so much better about my writing. Love!**

**And now for the story and an apology for being so late at the bottom!**

The sun was high over the airforce base as Japan's many teen gangs continued their high speed races, vying for honor, wealth and pride. The Fangs, however, were taking a brief break from all the excitement, kicking back beneath the comforting shade of their tent. It was, after all, nearing 47 degrees Celcius at the air base and not even the rushing wind through a Corvette window could kill heat like a cold beer. Besides that, several races had already been won by Southern Tokyo and not even the heat could change that; what was one little break when they were already the best?

Shitora whimpered quietly, trying rather unsuccessfully to constrict her hair in a bun. Throughout her life the girl had refrained from wearing her hair anyway but naturally; 47 degrees Celcius was bad enough to break even her lifeless traditions. Suddenly, Shitora found her hair taken gently from her fretful hands before the soothing feeling of raking fingers soon followed. Within seconds, her hair was twisted into a neat little bun, sitting cutely atop her downy white head.

"We really should get you some girl lessons, Sukini. You can't even put up your own hair."

Furrowing her brow, Shitora turned to face Ranbou, whose ice blue eyes were twinkling with mirth against his tan skin. "How do you know so much about putting up hair anyway, huh?"

"Look at _my _hair Sukini," Ranbou pointed out, gesturing to the neat black ponytail cascading down his back. Shitora frowned; he had a valid point. She could only remember seeing his hair down at important demon clan meetings, but everyone was required to dress in formal clothing and present themselves fashionably; she'd barely even noticed, it was so commonplace.

"Yeah, well...hell, I don't have an answer," the hanyou murmured defeatedly, throwing up her hands in despair.

Ranbou chuckled and wrapped a comforting, strong arm around the girl's shoulders, planting a quick kiss on the top of her head. "You don't need one, Sukini. Your hair looks sexy down anyway."

Despite herself, Shitora couldn't help but smile and giggled in response; something about those cute little gestures of his always seemed to bring a certain light to her face. Kagome watched the two from a distance, standing a few feet outside the tent with a cold beer sweating in her palm.

"I still can't get over them," she murmured to Inuyasha, who was squinting at a blue Lamborghini in the distance. Just the sight of it renewed his delicious desire to finish modifications on his own Diablo.

"Yeah," came Inuyasha's disinterested mutter; when it all came down to it, Inuyasha preferred the thought of Ranbou with his precious sister more so than some pathetic gang punk. He loved most of the gang fellows, of course, but some just couldn't be trusted; Inuyasha was no fool when it came to misplaced loyalties.

Kagome cocked her head to the side, observing her boyfriend's focused amber eyes, before following his gaze toward the horizon. She smiled slightly. "Thinking about your Diablo?"

"What? Oh, yeah," Inuyasha replied rather softly. Still seeming preoccupied, he managed to get out, "I should've worked harder on the damn engine, but the thing was so fucked I figured 'what's the point,' right? I mean, there were other jobs to do and-"

"And you wanted to help everyone else. I know, Yash, I saw," Kagome interrupted, smiling knowingly. "Mister 'don't worry about it, Roku, I got that?' Mister 'sure thing, Tora, hand me that wrench? Mister-"

"I get it," the hanyou repaid her, rolling his eyes plantively before reaching back to pull his wifebeater over his head. What with the sun's relentless intensity, clothing seemed less and less necessary as the day went on. "I'm a pussy who couldn't get his priorities in order and spent all his fucking time on other people's shit, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," Kagome said quietly, slightly chastened by his sharp tone. When Kagome's brown eyes shifted instinctively towards the ground, Inuyasha sighed and took her by the shoulders, forcing her to face him.

"Aw, Kags, I'm just in a bad mood cause I didn't finish the Diablo. Sorry, babe, I didn't mean to be a bastard," he said sourly, hating apologizing yet hating the sadness on her face even more.

After a brief silence, Kagome glanced up and offered him a small smile. "I know, Inuyasha. You don't have to apologize for being in a bad mood."

"Feh. You just lay on the guilt when you look all sad, is all."

At the staunch rebellious look on Inuyasha's face, Kagome laughed and reached up to tweak one of his lily-white ears, grin growing as hs purred contentedly. With her face lingering so close to his, Kagome remembered for the umpteenth time that their lips had never touched. Sure, they touched quite a bit and he often planted possessive kisses on her neck, but an actual kiss was another thing. Though it hadn't happened yet, Kagome was counting on the possibilities surrounding fate and the meaning of the moment. She wanted it to be a memorable kiss and rushing things wouldn't help that at all. No, she would just wait.

"It's almost time for Sango's race and I said I'd be there," the girl muttered, glancing down at her watch. "Shit. Gotta go. See you later?"

Inuyasha kissed her forehead, smiling reassuringly. "Sure thing, babe."

As Kagome hurried off towards Sango's favorite runway, one which she'd been frequenting during the races, she couldn't help but grin; she loved it when Inuyasha called her "babe."

When she arrived, a substantial crowd had gathered around two impressive looking cars, one being Sango's silver Corvette and another belonging to her opponent, a Kyoto gang member by the name of Razz. Razz was a generic looking badboy with a few piercings and tattoos, acclaimed leader of the leading Kyoto gang, the Rhythms. Inuyasha always scoffed about the gang's "gayness" and about how "no one called the Rhythms could possibly do shit on the racetrack." But oh how wrong he was.

Razz's blue Viper, shimmering in the sunlight, was pulled up directly adjacent to Sango's Corvette at the starting line, window rolled down as he chatted blithely with the girl. When Kagome jogged up, saying quickly, "Sorry, Sango," Razz blinked and adjusted his muscled grip on the steering wheel.

"Well who have we here? I don't think we've met."

At the voice Kagome jumped slightly, turning to look through the Viper's window with a hint of hesitation. At the sigh of Razz's friendly yet animalistic grin, she softened slightly; it reminded her of Kouga and Ranbou. "Oh, I'm Kagome."

"Nice to meet you Kagome, I'm Razz," the boy said plesantly, crimson red eyes oddly violent for his calm personality.

Sango cut in amusedly, "He's only the greatest racer in Kyoto. No sweat, right?"

This provoked a barking laugh from Razz, who replied modestly, "I don't know about being the greatest racer. I'm pretty normal, as I see it."

"Uhuh, yeah," Sango joked, before turning back to Kagome. "So, you check out Ranbou and Shitora this morning?"

At these words, Razz's keen demon ears gave a twitch and he grinned, calling, "Did they finally do it? I was gettin' sick of them playin' around."

"Weren't we all," Kagome agreed dryly. "Yeah, they finally did it. I never could get it out of them how it happened though, apparently it's all hush hush. Shitora was all 'it just happened, no big deal,' and Ranbou said, 'ask Shitora.' So basically it was a dead ended conversation."

"Sounds just like them," Razz murmured, shaking his pierced head knowingly. "Well, they deserve it. Lord knows they've gone through enough. I mean, that thing with Shitora an-"

"Yeah, Razz, shut up," Sango interrupted at a low mumble, deliberately avoiding Kagome's eyes. Eyebrows raised curiously, Kagome looked between the two as though awaiting an explanation, but none came. Puzzling over what the two could mean, Kagome decided it was best to change the subject.

"So, you guys are gonna race? For how much?"

At this, the two racers grinned once more and Razz announced boldly, "Two grand. And it's gonna be a close one, I guarantee that."

Before Sango could reply, an abbrassive shout broke the air, interrupting the general conversation in the area with it's British flare. "Fuck, Razz, you get lower and lower ever year. Racing women. Fuck."

Kagome turned to observe the newcomer, who was waltzing arrogantly towards the racers. His hair was quite the oddity, a red mohawk of sorts which curled up like flamed from his bald scalp, clashing violently with his violet eyes. He was decked out in all sorts of leather, though this was to be expected at an event like Race Wars; the real eye catching thing about him, besides his demon ears of course, was the man's gnarled face, which looked as though it had been burned in an accident of some sort. Kagome felt bad for staring, but she couldn't help it; his entire face was distorted.

"Fucking Mad Max," was all Razz said, though the smile was gone from his face.

Sango regarded the man with a likewise cold demeanor. "What the hell do you want, Max?"

"I want to know why the fuck Razz is fuckin' around with some fuckin' chick in a fast fuckin' car, that's what I fuckin' want," Mad Max spat out in reply, fleshy face drawn in an obvious frown.

Before Sango could reply to his outrageous statement, Max turned his attention to Kagome, who was observing him with slight interest and slight dislike. Max grinned, which was quite an odd look on the face of someone so damaged, and took a few bold steps towards Kagome. "What a pretty little lady," he crooned, British drawl even more aparrent. As he neared Kagome, she snapped out of her frozen state and implemented a hard look on her face, eyes narrowed in distaste.

"Get away from me," she spat, voice hard and sharp.

Max scowled immediately, shrinking back as though stung by her barb, and his eyes became a steely purple. "Afraid of my fuckin' face, little lady? Go on, be afraid. It's not every day you see some fuckin' bloke who had his face burned off by a fuckin' tail pipe."

The blunt explanation startled Kagome, whose brown eyes adopted a sort of pity. "A-a tail pipe did that?"

"Spit out fuckin' flames when I was tryin' to fix the fuckin' thing," Max replied off handedly, as though the story were uninteresting and old hat to him.

"Kagome, this is Fucking Mad Max," Sango interrupted from her car, dangling her arm out the window. "He's a racer from Kyoto, one of the Scorpions."

Drawing in a calming breath, Kagome observed Max levelly and held out her hand. "Kagome Higurashi," she said cooly.

Max looked rather strangely at Kagome's hand before he finally shook it in his much larger one, seeming almost surprised by her sudden lack of fear. After a moment, a look of recognition passed over his face and he muttered, "Inuyasha's lemon curd, right."

Razz, Sango and Kagome all observed the man blankly, bringing an exasperated look to Max's face. "Girlfriend, you dumb sods."

"Oh," they murmured in unison, as though interested by his use of such authentic British Slang.

"Wait, sorry, did you call him _Fucking _Mad Max?" Kagome said rather suddenly, having just made the connection between both Razz and Sango's presentations of the name.

Razz rubbed the back of his neck absently. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, girl, he loves to say 'fuck.'"

"But that doesn't explain why he knew I was Inuyasha's lem- uh, girlfriend," Kagome said irritatedly, almost reverting back to Max's odd term.

Max shrugged, leaning back against Razz's car with a practiced ease; he seemed very at home around mechanical things, as did most of the gang members at Race Wars. "News travels fast, love. I knew ' bout Bo and Tora nearly..." glancing down at his worn leather watch, Max proclaimed, "Seven hours and twenty minutes ago."

Glancing down at her own watch, Kagome murmured, "That would mean you knew at seven this morning."

"Like I said, news travels fast."

Sango snorted belligerently, obviously not friends with this man. "What the hell were you doing at seven that led to this brilliant discovery?"

Max only shrugged at the comment, as though missing its intended barb. "Well, I was removing explosives from the bottom of the Fangs' fuckin' cars when they came strollin' out holdin' fuckin' hands. It was a pretty obvious, love."

A silence stole the air as fear passed around each and every face in the circle; Sango and Kagome especially looked as though they were about to faint. Razz cleared his throat and attracted Max's attention, unaffected by the man's gnarled face. "Max, whadya mean 'explosives?'"

Shrugging his thin shoulders blithely, Max replied, "I mean fuckin' bombs, mate. Little things about this big that go boom, know what I mean?"

"I know what a bomb is, I'm saying you mean they were planted there? Like sabotage?" Razz pressed, black eyes glittering with anger at every passing word.

Narrowing his violet eyes plantively, Max replied, "Unless you think the Fangs wanted to go for a jolly fuckin' ride and put them there themselves, then that's my guess, yeah. Oh well, I'll leave you to your fuckin' race. Out." Raising his tattooed hand as a sort of casual farewell, Mad Max turned on his thin boot heels and strolled easily away from the other, ignoring their gaping mouths as they puzzled over this recently departed news.

Kagome furrowed her brow and turned to Razz. "Wait...bombs under the cars...sabotage? How did he know the bombs were even there?"

"Max is a combustion demon," the tattooed driver replied, shaking his shaggy head confusedly. "He could probably feel the pulse of the timer, sense the bomb or something. But who would want to blow up your cars?"

Sango snorted, killing her engine and unfolding herself from the car; obviously this was not a good time to race. "Blow up our cars? I doubt this was really about our cars, Razz. I bet it was about us."

Kagome, still stunned by the thought of something like a bomb within such close proximity of their safety, shivered despite the hot weather. "Bombs...that would've kil-"

"We know, Kags," Sango interrupted tightly, obviously unwilling to hear the words spoken aloud. "And we all know who it was. I just hope Naraku knows what he's getting himself into."

Gazing out at the horizon where more races were taking place, Razz narrowed his eyes against the heat and sighed. "I just hope that Max got all the bombs."

"Way to go Miroku!"

"Nice win, man."

"Smoked 'im!"

"Good acceleration, dude; nice ride ya got there."

Miroku stepped gallantly out of his car as a generally excited crowd surrounded him, congratulating him on his recent win over one of the Dragons. Grinning and slapping hands with a few familiar faces, Miroku patted the top of his car gently, as though thanking it for a wonderful ride. He'd matched his opponent wheel for wheel the entire time, racing what was, frankly, a faster car, but he'd shifted the Dragon in the last leg of the race. It was simply his skill as a racer which carried him, not the chassis beneath him. And that made him proud to be a Fang.

As Miroku pocketed his keys, he caught sight of a familiar silver head above the crowd, moving steadily towards him, and he smiled. Inuyasha broke through the front lines, grinning full fanged at his best friend of fifteen years. "Nice, Houshi."

"Thanks Taisho," Miroku replied in kind, clasping hands with Inuyasha and performing a sort of manly secret handshake.

"You go on and do whatever it is the hell you do, the wolf and I got the tune up under control, alright?" Inuyasha said, jerking a thumb at the purple vehicle behind him.

Miroku shrugged, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead; the heat was only intensifying as the day went on. "Suit yourself. Aren't you and Ko still fighting though?"

"Yeah, whatever," Inuyasha muttered, cheeks burning a hot red as he turned away from Miroku's scrutinyzing gaze to attack his work with vigor. Miroku gave a small half smile at his friend's stubborness and turned on his heels, readjusting his sweat soaked jeans as he walked. Inuyasha had barely made it to the car when he spotted a familiar muscled arm, three diagonal claw marks on the bicep, working busily away under the recently opened hood. Kouga was already there.

Trying to ignore the awkwardness creeping up in his throat, Inuyasha saddled up beside Kouga, who was working dilligently away at the engine without a single unfocused glint in his eye. At Inuyasha's appearance, he merely grunted and continued wrenching; he hadn't forgotten the callous insults paid to his entire family, nevertheless him. Inuyasha paused from where he was about to grab his own hammer from the toolbox, sun beating down upon the airport concrete, but he closed it again as a second thought. He couldn't think of a single thing to say in return.

Inuyasha looked out across the open air base, looking at the sea of tents spread before him like a quilt. The nearest tent was a good seventy meters away, as the races took place a safe distance from the living quarters. The fans had cleared out and it was just him and Kouga, the sound of the turning wrench the only strains audible above the general hum of airport life. Sighing, Inuyasha brushed away a drop of sweat dangling from his nose and was about to turn back towards his work when a sudden voice interrupted his thoughts.

_Danger._

Blinking, the hanyou glanced this way and that as though searching for the owner of the voice. Kouga looked as though he hadn't heard a thing, continuing his work like there was no tomorrow.

_Danger._

This time Inuyasha was quite sure he'd heard it. Standing stark still, Inuyasha held out his hands as though searching for balance when he felt a sudden heat on his palms. Glancing down, he noticed that it was coming from underneath the car. _Pulse, pulse, pulse..._There was something abnormal about this whole situation and his instincts were trying to make him aware of it. _Danger, danger, move, move, move _they urged. The hackles on the back of his neck rose threatningly and a cold sweat interrupted the hot one on his brow, combining with the swell of fear in his stomach.

"Kouga..."

The wolf demon paused, glancing up at the hanyou with slight irritation. "What?"

"Move."

"What?"

"Move."

"Why?"

"Now, Kouga."

"Inuy-"

"Move, god dammit!"

Grabbing Kouga's arm in a violent motion, Inuyasha jerked him away from the car with such force that the demon dropped the wrench to the ground. Kouga was about to protest the strange desperation in Inuyasha's mood when he hazarded a glance back at the car. They were only about ten feet away when the most unexpected thing happened.

Miroku's car exploded.

There was an extremely blank silence before a heat engulfed the area, followed closley by the defeaning sound of metal being blown to pieces by an explosion of powerful chemicals. Crashing, grating, screaming and a startling absence of sound which accompanies all loud ones tore through the afternoon air, sending billows of smoke and torrents of flame reaching for the sky. The car was blown at least fifteen feet in the air on sheer explosive power alone, glass cracking beneath the power and wheels melting to a sweltering pile in the chaos.

Kouga found himself thrown violently backwards, entangled with Inuyasha who had somehow appeared behind him during all of this. However fortunate this was for Kouga, it was rather unfortunate for Inuyasha, who was now between the wolf demon and the explosion, a sort of living buffer zone. Shrapnel pelted his back as they careened forward, impaling his flesh and sticking in the muscles of his back. He cried out, a raw howl which echoed in Kouga's ears; he'd never heard Inuyasha cry out in pain like that before.

They landed at about the same time as the car, which created a far louder sound; Inuyasha and Kouga just sort of plopped down on the pavement like potato sacks, bodied scraped and, most of all, burned. By this time, the explosion had attracted quite a bit of attention and the sound of many footsteps slapped against the conrete on a beeline for the fallen demons. Kouga grunted, finally coming about his senses enough to be aware of himself. The wolf demon found himself laying flat on the ground, Inuyasha half on top of him and half laying limply on the ground; even from his position, Kouga could make out shards of glass and metal embedded in the hanyou's back. Blood was trickling down his neck and face, rolling over his pale lips like rain.

Sesshomaru had been enjoying a nice peaceful afternoon of Race Wars paperwork when it was all interrupted by a deafening explosion. Naturally, he'd come running to investigate the noise in his premises, but found nothing like what he'd expected. A car, which he could barely discern as Miroku's, was laying in a smoldering heap some twenty five feet from the bodies of his brother and best friend, who were unmoving at the current time. Of course, Sesshomaru began to run.

Footsteps soon joined his, much faster and skilled; Ranbou was at the Fang leader's side in an instant, normally light hearted eyes a dark and confused blue. His ponytail flew out behind him as he ran, screaming, "Kouga!" in a terrified voice. Sesshomaru, despite the danger to his own kin, felt a striking pity for Ranbou; Kouga was his only true family, besides his Yakuza father and estranged siblings. The brothers and sisters weren't in touch, however, and Sesshomaru was aware. But just the thought of being completely alone...it startled him.

"Yash?" Kouga called out feebly, trying to sit up on his elbows. "Come on, Yash, wake up man." The hanyou didn't stir however, which furthered Kouga's desperate attempts to wake him. "Come on, ya dumb mutt, wake the fuck up!" he cried, voice cracking as he shook Inuyasha's shoulder violently. He recoiled sharply when he felt his finger come open on something sharp; he'd cut himself on a piece of glass protruding from Inuyasha's flesh.

"Ko, are you alright?"

Glancing back at the voice, Kouga looked full into the faces of his brother and best friend. At Sesshomaru's question, he could barely find his voice. "I-I'm...Inuya-"

Sesshomaru and Ranbou knelt down beside their brothers, assessing the damage as best they could. Sesshomaru frantically ran his hands over Inuyasha's back, searching for damange to the spine; he couldn't feel any, though he was anything but a classified doctor. He could however, feel the menagerie of glass and metal pieces tugging at his skin, obviously stuck in his brother's. "Shit," he swore softly, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the still flaming car. "What the hell happened here?"

"Sabotage," came another voice.

Sango and Kagome, upon hearing the blast, came running with only one thought on their mind: friends. They knew the explosion had come from one of their cars for, according to Max, the Fang vehicles were plauged with bombs, planted by Naraku they surmised; they'd been on their way to warn Sesshomaru when the explosion occurred. But they hadn't actually wrapped their minds around the thought of someone getting hurt or worse, dying, from an explosion caused by the catastrophe. They knew Max had removed all the bombs he could find, but they didn't even know if all the vehicles had been present when he discovered the sabotage. Now they knew for sure that he'd missed one.

Kagome had never even dwelled on the thought of Inuyasha getting caught up in all this bomb business. She'd been counting on the misfortune on one of the others for, as heartless as this sounded, she didn't want it affecting her quite as directly as her boyfriend. But now she was feeling the pains of worry spreading through her veins as she made out a bloodied main of white hair collapsed in a heap on the ground, cradled in his brother's arms. It looked so...bad. She couldn't think of another word to put to it, but 'bad' seemed to suit her purposes. He looked like he could never walk or think or talk or breathe again; that's what true death looked like, or so she thought.

"Inuyasha!"

Despite her fear, the scream tore from her throat like a wounded animal's cry. She hurried to his side, running faster than she ever had before, and hurriedly took his face in her hands; he was pale but warm. Dead people were cold, right? But he'd just been through an explosion, she remembered, so wouldn't he be abornmally warm for a while now? She wasn't sure. Of course, she couldn't be quite sure of anything right now. None of this was commonplace or...thinkable.

By this time, a sizeable crowd had gathered some thirty feet away, whispering and talking amongst themselves as they wondered what exactly had gone on. Twin water demons from Kyoto's Jackrabbits hurried through the densely packed crowd, calling in unison, "Coming through!" as they ran towards the flaming car. Raising their hand towards the flaming wreckage, they began systematically moving their way around the car, dousing the flames in streams of clear blue water. It wasn't long after that Miroku came sprinting towards the scene, finding almost everything he cared about in shatters. First there was his car and then there was his best friend; his breath caught in his throat as he saw Sango sitting with the others around Kouga and Inuyasha, obviuosly unharmed. At least _one _importantthing was safe from this disaster.

"Holy shit," he murmured, sparing his car a brief glance before falling to his knees beside Sango and the others. "Yash...Ko, what happened?"

Coughing up grit, Kouga accepted his brother's strong arm as he sat weakly up from his laying position. "It just blew up, man. There must've been something wrong under the hood, or something...Yash seemed to know about it before it happened though. He got us moving just in time."

"It wasn't under the hood, Kouga," Sango murmured, shaking her head. "It was under the chassis. Someone sabotaged our cars. We just found out and we were on our way to tell you."

"What!" Sesshomaru barked, turning on Sango with the speed of a typhoon. His amber eyes were growing to be an almost inhuman yellow, one which pierced the souls of everyone present. "Sabotage? Who told you this?"

Kagome, unaffected by Sesshomaru's rage, only continued to stroke Inuyasha's head as tears rolled silently down her face. She finally murmured, "Fucking Mad Max. He found them this morning and removed the only ones he could find. We hoped he'd gotten them all but we were going to tell you just in case..." her voice broke as she forced herself to look away from Inuyasha's eerily calm face, biting her lip and forcing her jaw to steady; she wouldn't break down because of sickness or injury. Only when Inuyasha stopped breathing would she break down. And that day was not to day. Not on her watch.

"Holy crap," someone murmured, alerting attention from the circle.

Ayame sprinted towards the chaos, which surrounded the explosion she'd heard mere minutes before. She'd been on the entire other side of the airport, two miles away, and she'd used her demon speed to arrive in two minutes time, only to find her boyfriend laying hurt near the wreckage of Miroku's once stunning race car. Dropping down beside him, the redhead assessed his injuries with her fierce green eyes. "What the fu-"

"My car exploded," Miroku offered, sighing and rubbing his smoke ridden eyes. By now, the water twins had brought the car down to a sort of smoking pile of rubble, which was barely even recognizable as a vehicle. The explosion had done its damage and absolutely nothing was salvageable, as far as the eye could tell. The twins came jogging towards the group, shrugging their thin shoulders and running simultaneous hands through their sky blue hair.

"Sorry, we did what we could," one of them said, offering Miroku an apologetic frown.

"No, you've helped a lot guys. Thanks," Miroku insisted, mustering a weak smile in return for their trouble.

At this point, Rin, Akago and Gan came running to join their friends, the last to arrive but perhaps the most valuable in the situation. When the explosion happened, Rin immediately went in search of the Shark leader and second, knowing they were the only ones adept enough in the medical arts to help should someone need assistance. Gan especially was well trained and Rin knew that, following an explosion, people were hurt; it was just the way things happened.

Akago took in the sight of Miroku's car or, rather, the charred remains of his car, and assessed the situation in one glance. "Well, this is quite the situation," he murmured, kneeling down beside Kouga and allowing Gan to take the more desperately needy of the two.

Without a word, Gan ran his hands over Inuyasha's limbs, his muscles and, finally his spine. Outwardly, Gan the Gun looked calm and concentrated. On the inside, however, female Gan's mind was traveling a mile a minute; _Oh God, please don't let the pieces be in his spine, I beg you. I know I've been kinda sinful lately, Kami, but just don't do it to the Fangs, not them. They're such good people, not them...Thank Kami, I'll pray to you more often. _

Letting out a breath of air, Gan wiped a hand across his brow and announced, "He's quite fixable. I'll just need to extract the metal and glass. It'll be long and tedious, but easier to do when he's unconcious. We need to get going to the tent. I'm going to need sterile water, tweezers, alcohol, rubber gloves and a bowl to put the shards in." No one moved for a moment, but Gan reitterated fiercely, "Now, people!"

A flurry of movement began as Akago spoke quickly to Ranbou, who was supporting his still shaky-legged brother. The shark leader imparted a few passing words between leaders, instructing him in Kouga's basic care, which involved cleaning him up, putting bandages over the larger cuts, and letting him rest for an hour or two. Inuyasha had sheltered him from most of the damage, which was perhaps the saddest part of it all.

Last but not least, Shitora came sprinting doggedly through the crowd, throwing people to the side as she hurried towards her friends and brothers. She'd been buying cigarettes for herself and Ranbou with Bankotsu in the nearby town when she'd sensed danger and, with their newly purchased cigarettes, she and Bankotsu hurried back to the air base only to find the smoke in the air and the scent of fire permeating the place. They followed smoke to the fire, only to find the "fire" a smoldering pile of junk, before which was a group of their friends.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, horrified, as she witnessed her strong brother settled limply on Sesshomaru's back, never even so much as twitching at her voice. "What the fuck happened?"

"Someone's been putting bombs on your cars, baby girl," Ranbou told her, stone faced, as he offered Kouga a shoulder to lean on, walking strongly towards the RV to get his brother cleaned up. "Help me, Sukini?"

Nodding dumbly, Shitora spared one last glance at her brother before pausing. "Maybe I should go wi-"

"You don't wanna see that," Ranbou murmured quietly, referring to the medical procedure which was about to go on. He knew that, no matter how hard Shitora tried to prove her strength, she was still weak for her family. Watching Inuyasha's near emasculation would do nothing for her spirit and he wasn't about to subject her to that sort of pain. "C'mon, baby girl."

Kagome walked anxiously at Sesshomaru's side, eyes straight forward and jaw strong; she looked almost unaffected, if not for the slight quiver in her lip. Observing her with a seemingly cold eye, Sesshomaru said quietly, "He's not going to let something as miniscule as an explosion keep him down, Kagome, as I'm sure you well know."

"I know," came Kagome's quiet response. She said nothing more on the subject, never removing her gaze from the straight forward path. Sesshomaru sighed and returned his own gaze forward, returning his mind to the matters at hand; this changed quite a few things about their safety procedures. He wouldn't let it destroy their Race Wars, but by God, those responsible would pay. Sesshomaru was no fool; he was perfectly aware that Naraku was the culprit in all this, but he wasn't going to make a large deal over it. He would, instead, talk to Ranbou about a little revenge. Yes, he thought bitterly, revenge was in order.

The Spiders would pay. They would pay with their lives.

Gan worked quietly away at Inuyasha's pack, removing each sliver of glass and metal with the tweezers, allowing them to drop in the bowl with distinctive metallic clinks. Akago watched his second in command work, occasionally wiping Inuyasha's skin with an alcohol soaked rag to prevent infection. The crackling of raw flesh was truly sickening, but both Sharks had seen worse in their lives.

"A senseless act of violence," Gan murmured, initiating conversation where there had once been a deadening silence.

Akago observed the boy quietly, taking in his concentrated violet eyes and pale, markless face. He looked concentrated, cold, stoic, but almost hurt by all this pain and suffering. More than anything, he looked confused; if Akago knew Gan, he was currently dissecting all the ways that the Spiders could've planned this out and why they would do such a thing. Gan was a thinker. A practically flawless thinker.

"Indeed," Akago murmured, leaning back in his chair, still clutching the alcohol rag. "Not unlike the Spiders, I should imagine." After a moment, he murmured, "Is it the 'Tarantulas' or the 'Spiders'? I've heard Naraku call them both."

Shrugging, Gan removed a rather large piece of glass and dropped it in the bowl. "I don't remember, nor do I care. They're bastards. That's what I'll call them. The Bastards."

Akago chuckled humorlessly and wiped down Inuyasha's back once more. "I'll agree to that title. But tell me, Gan, why would they put an explosive on every single car the Fangs possessed? There's a greater chance of them being discovered that way. Why not only one car?"

A voice interrupted their conversation from the tent flap, thick with British drawl and it's usual disdain. "Cause, mate, these were fuckin' chain bombs."

Fucking Mad Max sauntered into the tent, numerous chains jinglings as he took a backwards seat on someone's empty chair, red mohawk casting a strange shadow on the tent as he screwed up his gnarled face. "Rank smell, that."

"Cleaning his back," Gan explained, not at all unused to Max's presence. Max's gang, the Scorpions, was a strong client of the Shark's drug trading business. As Max was often brought along to smell and detect for sabotage in the handoffs, both Gan and Akago were at ease around his gruffness. And his badly burned face.

"So we hear you did a little bomb sniffing this morning," Akago mentioned casually, as though speaking to someone over afternoon tea. His crimson eyes dissected every bit of Max's character in that moment, right down to the toes in his boots. He would know if Max was lying or not; it was often that Akago turned on his mind reading powers, but this was obviously a good situation for them.

"Yeah, fuckin' Fangs didn't clean out their own shit," Max mentioned boredly. Akago sensed no lie. "All in the undercarriages."

"Of all the cars?"

"There was only cars there, mate," Max mentioned. "Coulda been on the fuckin' bikes for all I know. I didn't fuckin' check the bikes; they weren't there."

Letting out a thick stream of air, Akago rubbed wearily at his face, as though not understanding how one situation could make everything so difficult. "Great. So right now, Bo and Tora could be riding around with explosives on their bikes."

At this horrible news Max only shrugged, collapsing down backwards on a folding metal chair. "Yeah, but hardly fuckin' likely. Harder to hide a bomb on a fuckin' bike, less place to put it."

Gan, while the two men discussed the bomb occurrance, was preocuppied with her work on Inuyasha's back. While she appeared stoic on the outside, the only image she could seem to conjur up was that of Kagome's tearstreaked face. Whenever Gan came across a situation that was either heartbreaking or emotionally striking, she tried to put herself in the position of the victim. What if Akago had been laying draped across another, covered in blood, staining his pale skin, white hair, running down and pooling on the concrete. What if he'd been the one saving another but finding himself harmed in the process? What would she be feeling? It was almost unthinkable, the grief and confusion surrounding the whole thing. All Gan could think was "poor Kagome."

"Gan?"

Blinking fiercely, Gan turned to Akago and adopted the voice she'd been masking for three long years. "Yes?"

"How does it look? You're the doctor here."

Running a hand along the back of his neck, the newly assumed Gan the Gun shrugged his thin shoulders and began wiping his hands on a clean rag. "Well, I've done all I can do. It was really just a cleaning sort of job to be honest, but he'll still be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. Knowing Inuyasha, however, he'll be up and moving the minute he opens his eyes."

"Of course; he's a Taisho."

Sesshomaru moved with the grace of his station, gliding towards the table and glancing over his brother's recent treatment. Nodding curtly to show that he approved, the Fang leader murmured, "Fine work, Gan, as always."

Knowing this was high praise coming from Sesshomaru, Gan replied modestly, "Thank you."

Just as he said these words, a grunt emitted from the still body on the table; all those beneath the tent turned and watched in mild amusement as Inuyasha twitched, opening his eyes with some difficulty. "What the hell..." he mumbled, eyes half hooded and a dull gold with sleep.

"Congratulations on surviving a car explosion," Akago said mildly, smile threatening to creep over his lips.

The tent walls flapped in the silence and Inuyasha only continued to stare, eyes half hooded, at the tarp. Finally, he asked gruffly, "Did the wolf survive?"

"Yes, and he's in much better shape than you," Sesshomaru informed him, arms crossed and amber stare piercing. Obviously, the leader was slightly annoyed at Inuyasha's self sacrifice, while simultaneously quite touched and pleased.

"Hn," was Inuyasha's only reply.

"And they call me fuckin' mad," Max joked, grinning in a way which distorted his already mangled flesh.

Inuyasha managed a smile at the familiar voice; he'd always been a fan of Max's insolence. "Max, you sonofabitch."

While the boys bantered, Gan excused himself tactfully from the tent and dodged through the flap, walking across the dirty way to the Fang's original red topped tent. It had no flaps, allowing what little breeze there was to drift pleasantly through, though the people beneath it looked anything but content. Kagome was sitting at the table, flip flops on the ground and legs crossed sadly in her seat. The way her head hung was enough to warrant pity, but she didn't want it; she was never a girl to beg attention from others and Gan knew that. Rin and Ayame sat with her, saying nothing but offering the only encouragement they could with their presence.

"Kagome?"

At the sound of Gan's voice, Kagome looked up from her lap with wide brown eyes; she seemed responsive and alert, only slightly world-worn. "Inuyasha woke up and I thought you might want to see him."

Inuyasha's name brought a certain brightness back to Kagome's eyes and she nodded, jumping up from her chair and hurrying to slide on her sandals. "Excellent! Yeah, I would, thanks Gan. How's he doing?"

Gan was actually surprised at Kagome's resiliance; he'd expected her to be slightly more beaten by all of this, but she appeared to have escaped the worst of it. Truthfully, the was handling it with all the maturity of a woman twice her age. "He's doing fine, already joking with Max," Gan replied casually nonetheless.

The two walked across the way and into the tent, where Akago and Sesshomaru were helping Inuyasha into a sitting position while Max looked on with a rather happy smirk. Seeing Inuyasha's familiar tan face, amber eyes alight with irritation at his injuries, while hair clean from it's previous blood soaked state, did Kagome a great amount of good. "Well, look who finally woke up," she giggled, smiling warmly at her boyfriend.

Kagome's voice certainly had an affect on Inuyasha, who looked as though he would've liked nothing more than to strangle everyone involved in this situation; his back hurt like bloody kingdom come. "Kagome," he murmured, looking up so quickly he nearly wrenched his neck. A smirk slowly formed on his lips. "Yeah, I was just taking a nap, I'll be good for a while."

Sesshomaru and Akago carefully removed their hands as Inuyasha finally managed a sitting position and they stepped back, allowing Kagome to get through to the table. She sat slightly on the edge, taking Inuyasha's hand in hers as he leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Gan the girl watched the two with a small smile, wondering what it must feel like to have someone love you so completely. Sure, she knew they probably hadn't come right out and said "I love you," but they certainly were adorable about it all. They would realize their feelings soon enough...or if they already had, they'd disclose them to one another. She hoped.

The tent flapped once more and Kouga ducked beneath the tarp, trying to ignore the heat on his skin as the others aimed their gazes at his face. He could feel Inuyasha's, as well as Sesshomaru's, looking right through his tough facade; he'd been scared shitless that Inuyasha would never wake up at all. Sure, this was a bit dramatic, but every time someone gets hurt, death is always a nagging thought. The wolf demon shuffled his feet, wondering how to behave in the face of a man who insulted your very culture but saved your life.

"Hey," he muttered, inwardly smacking himself; a great opening line to be sure.

There was a silence amongst the others until Kagome smiled and said, "I'm going to go back with Rin and Ayame, but if you need anything, call me, okay?"

Inuyasha just nodded, never removing his eyes from Kouga's. Sesshomaru, Akago, Max and Gan seemed to take Kagome's hint flawlessly and all began filing out the door behind her, never offering a false excuse for their departure; they knew the two demons didn't care about their reasoning anyway. When they were finally alone, Kouga's nervousness waned ever so slightly and he murmured, "So, how you doin?"

"Fine, except for the whole glass part," came Inuyasha's mildly sarcastic reply.

Kouga grinned, knowing this was Inuyasha's way of trying to make him feel at ease. "Yeah, that's a bitch. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks, man. What you did-"

"Don't mention it," Inuyasha mumbled; he glanced at the ground to hide his blush. "You woulda done the same for me."

"Yeah, but-"

"Forget it ya dumb wolf. I oughta be the one actin' all humble an shit. That stuff I said about your dad, just forget all my crap. You know I say shit like that when I'm angry just to piss people off. I didn't mean it like it came out. Your dad's a great guy," Inuyasha interrupted gruffly, trying to keep the mushy stuff to a minimum. He was, after all, still a tough smelling, beef eating man.

"Thanks Yash," Kouga said sincerely, offering his first real, toothy Ookami smile. "We're even."

"Yeah, Ko. Even."

That night, Sesshomaru sat beneath the fangs tent with a calculator and several slips laid out on the table, along with several piles of paper cash. Wearing his spectacles and tapping along on the calculator with his pencil eraser, the Fang leader looked like nothing more than an old businessman, tidying up his earnings. Ranbou sat nearby with his motorcycle, polishing the chrome plating after recently finishing a routine check over for explosives. Normally, he would go to the mechanics tent, which was a large circus tent erected for the sheer purpose of fixing vehicles inside. Some of the best gang mechanics in the country were there and, if you needed your car fixed, Race Wars was the place to do it. Tonight, however, Ranbou just didn't feel like hanging out with the other guys. In fact, after he was done polishing, he was going to join Shitora for some good old fashioned relaxation.

"Ranbou."

The wolf glanced up at his name, startled to hear Sesshomaru speak after his long silence. "Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you: exactly how did you and my sister end up at your current place?"

The question caught Ranbou off guard and his blue eyes widened considerably, in conjunction with the lurching of his stomach. He hadn't expected Sesshomaru to ask such a thing and, frankly, it was startling. "Uh...I dunno, Shomo," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly. "I just kinda...blurted it out I guess."

Sesshomaru glanced at Ranbou over his spectacles, fixing the wolf with the most acute glare he could ever remember. There was a pregnant pause, during which both parties refused to yield, and Sesshomaru finally said, "Hm."

This was the extent of it all and Ranbou stood, deciding to high tail it out of the tent while still keeping Shitora's midnight rape story underwraps. After escaping the tight atmosphere of Sesshomaru's scrutiny, Ranbou breathed in a fresh breath of night air, glancing up at the moon and stars with a sense of uneasiness. Ever since they'd arrived at Race Wars, despite the fun and good times, bad things had been happening. It all made him rather...uncomfortable.

He walked slowly towards the RVs, hands shoved in his jean pockets until he could bear the desire no longer. The wolf withdrew a cigarette from his pocketed box and lit it with a familiar motion, drawing in a deep drag and blowing it towards the moon. Some of the discomfort left him, but a good deal of it remained; normally he wouldn't be so affected by all these strange situations, but they were dangerously close to home. Meaning dangerously close to his brother and his girlfriend.

"Hey stranger."

Blinking, Ranbou inhaled the familiar scent of cigarettes, cinammon, grease and sex as Shitora walked softly towards him, out of her normal gang attire. Instead of tight leather and spandex, she wore a pair of sweatpants and a tank top with a pair of ratty flip flops; she was obviously in her pajamas. Her silken white hair shone in the moonlight, piled up in a messy bun, but Ranbou couldn't remember seeing her so beautiful.

"Hey baby girl," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the top of her head softly. "Going to bed already?"

Shitora shrugged, replying, "The girls went to the mechanics tent with the boys, but I just didn't want to go. Ever since last night, I dunno, I haven't wanted to party very much."

"I know," Ranbou said quietly, tightening his hold; the very remembrance of Bokoru's face sent shivers of anger down his back. "Let's go to sleep, you and me."

When Shitora regarded him with a craftily cocked silver eyebrow, he rolled his eyes and said tiredly, "No sex involved, I swear. I mean sleep. You. Me. Bed...and sleep."

Gazing up into Ranbou's ice blue eyes, Shitora felt a sense of cleanliness and safety. Despite being saved at the last minute, Shitora couldn't help but feel dirtied by her would-be rapest's hands. But now she felt clean, just from looking into those eyes. _God, I'm starting to sound like a Harlequin Romance. Oh well, my story's just a little bit different. And better._

"Alright, sleep would be good," she murmured, smiling at her boyfriend with a new sense of heart. "To the girl's RV."

"Sounds like a plan," Ranbou replied with a smile to mirror hers, taking her hand as they walked leisurely towards the girls' RV.

That night, the entirety of the Tokyo South would sleep in peace, but the Tokyo North was a festering pit of anger and bitterness; plans were being hatched and dangerous business relationships strengthened...and none of them were good for the Fangs.

**Okay, hit me, hurt me, all that jazz, but I've been really busy with school and I didn't quite know how to connect the last chapter and the next. So here it is, finally, I swear I'll never give up on this story. I love it too much; I'll be okay now, this was the longest you'll ever have to wait, I promise. Seriously, my bad. **

**Shout outs to Jackie for her fabulous fan art! Here's a link to Laying Down the Law art by Jaclyn Huber:**

**http/ this is a cover art type of thing**

**http/ this is Ranbou and Shitora**

**Much love Jax!**

**And now...**

**/Poll/**

**...Does this story need/warrant a lemon? Vote yay or nay in your review!...**

**Thanks a lot guys; love ya!**

**KOLU**


	24. Getting Air and Grabbing Guns Part I

**Thanks for everyone's reviews and responses to the lemon question. Basically, we're all a bunch of perverts, teehee. Here were the results of the poll.**

**12 vote yes**

**1 vote no**

**4 vote depending on the couple**

**2 vote doesn't need one, but it couldn't hurt**

**So there you have it, proof that everyone has and inner smut goblin, haha. So I think we'll put some in because of popular demand; i only brought lemons up because i had three requests. I'll probably commision a lemon since I'm really not a lemon writer, so if anyone is interested, let me know in your review or an email! Alright, on to this chapter, which is going to be one of the most exciting yet, I so hope. I can't know how many chapters will be coming out in the near future, possibly quite a few, because I'll be bed ridden for a while; I have some kind of hormonal anemia imbalance something or other, back problems, just a bunch of shit. Less school, right? Haha!**

**  
Oh, and just to clear something up, Ranbou and Shitora did NOT have sex. Ranbou was being serious when he said sleep. I reread it and it was a mite confusing, my bad everyone. Clearing that up. THERE WAS NO SEX BETWEEN RANBOU AND SHITORA. But there will be...:)**

"Kouga! C'mon, cub, get out here!"

Groaning slightly, Kouga rolled over on his side and buried his face into the smooth, lilac scented skin of Ayame's back. It couldn't be too late in the morning, in Kouga's estimation and, Race Wars or no, he was sleeping in this morning. After his wild night, Kouga wasn't sure he could get up anyway. But despite Kouga's own personal desires, Ranbou wasn't about to let his baby brother be.

"I'm serious Kouga, get up. It's almost eleven thirty and I need your consult on the Ducati before the bike show. "

Eleven thirty? Kouga sighed and tossed and arm casually over Ayame's side, allowing his claws to run cooly across her belly. His heart rate lulled against her even breathing, allowing Kouga a small moment of peace and quiet. Finally, the silence was broken as a woosh of air collided with Kouga bare feet and the door swung open to the RV bedroom, revealing a stone faced Ranbou sillhouetted by the sunlight through the windows.

Blinking, Ranbou took in the sight before him, one which he wouldn't forget for the rest of his days. Kouga and Ayame were spooning, both completely naked though thankfully covered by a twisted black sheet. Ayame was still sleeping soundly, apparently exhausted from her previous night's activities, pretty face slightly flushed from the heat of close contact. Kouga looked thoroughly enraged and sat up rather quickly, carelessly allowing the sheet to shift and reveal Ayame's naked buttocks.

"Ranbou, what the- eep!"

Ice blue eyes widening to a considerable size, Kouga hurriedly covered Ayame's backside and looked around desperately for his jeans, which he'd discarded in a rush the night before.

Ranbou raised an eyebrow in general amusement, propping his bare torso against the door frame with practiced ease. His tan face cracked in a handsome smile as he observed his brother's frantic search for pants. "Wow, Ko. Buttering the corn while I was busy with the bikes? Scandalous."

Kouga rolled his eyes as he jerked on his jeans, grabbing his jacket on the way out of the room. "Not like you went hungry last night, Bo," he murmured under his breath, glancing around the general chaos of the guy's RV in search of a shirt.

"Actually, I slept last night, as in actual real sleep. The kind where she didn't scream my name and I didn't waste a valuable condom on tired sex." Kouga paid his brother no mind and continued searching for a shirt, digging through piles of dirty boxers and suspiciously gray socks. Ranbou watched him for a moment before saying, "Don't bother, man, its a scorcher."

Throwing up his hands uselessly, Kouga slipped on his bike boots, not bothering with the buckles, and threw his jacket over his shoulder, following Ranbou outside. "You're not gonna wake up Aya?"

Kouga shrugged, closing the door behind himself before replying, "I'm gonna let her sleep. I wore her out last night."

The brothers shared wolfish smiles before a voice called, "Kouga, where have you been? We need your consult on the Ducati."

Sesshomaru's amber eyes reflected his general irritation at Kouga's lateness as he stormed towards his friends, silver hair undulating like an ominous cloud behind him. Like Ranbou, the Fang leader was shirtless and glistening with sweat; indeed, it was an unbearably hot morning at the air base.

"Sorry, Shomo, I was-"

"Doing the horizontal tango," Ranbou finished slyly, winking at Kouga before hurrying off to check on Hiten's bike before the trick riding event.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at Ranbou's comment, saddling up beside Kouga as they walked leisurely towards the Fang tent. "How many expressions can he come up with for sex?" the dog demon muttered blithely, glancing heavenward at the peaking sun.

"Franking the fungus, french wrestling match, giving the chop, hiding the salami; I'd say Ran's got more expressions for 'doing it' than I do for saying hello," Kouga mentioned, sliding a hand into his pocket as he searched for cigarettes. "How's the pool today?"

"High," Sesshomaru replied, wiping a hand across his brow. "That's why we've been trying to find you since nine this morning. Never did it cross my mind that you were still in the RV, you've always been such an early riser."

"Yeah, not today. I'm surprised you didn't hear us last night," Kouga said, shrugging his shoulders.

At this, Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows and began looking around for his own cigarette box. "I didn't sleep in the RV last night. Nor did anyone else I can think of, for that matter."

"Where were you?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Kouga grinned and swung blindly towards Sesshomaru's shoulder, finding himself quickly pulled into a ruthless headlock as they walked. The wolf laughed and tried to break the grinning leader's hold, but to no avail. Once they arrived at the tent, Sesshomaru released Kouga from his prison and the wolf demon breathed in a gulp of air, laughing all the while.

"You bastard."

"Finally, someone agrees with me," Inuyasha deadpanned as he hurried into the tent, making a beeline for the corner where he began to dig through piles of toolboxes in search of the hammer container. Kouga's gaze softened slightly as he observed the numerous scars marring Inuyasha's back, lingering from his near brush with death the previous day. Despite Inuyasha's demon heritage, Kouga was aware that most of the marks would never fade, as the only first aid available at Race Wars was cleaning and bandaging. Akago and Gan did what they could, but it would never be anything like Kei and Nanashi's treatment.

"Is everything ready for the show, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked, glancing at Kouga out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, for the most part. We just need Kouga's go on the Ducati and we're ready to go," Inuyasha replied over his shoulder.

Kouga rolled his eyes, finally snapping out of his trance. "God, if I hear about that Ducati one more time..."

"Oh, there you are Ko. Have you ok'ed the Ducati yet?" Rin asked as she hurried in to the tent, shedding her Wildcat jacket and tossing it over a nearby chair.

Sesshomaru grinned as Kouga let out a moan, massaging his temples wearily; obviously, this was the Gods' way of alerting him to a potentially long day. Sighing, Kouga smiled a passive smile and replied, "Nope, but I'm on my way, I promise."

At this point, Shitora came strolling through the tent with a peach in her hand, amber eyes bored with all this dribble. She was wearing a pair of leather pants and a crimson red bikini top which accentuated her rather large breasts, but she didn't look as though she were trying to attract attention. Instead, she said rather languidly, "Where's Ran? He said we'd watch the trick rides together."

"He went off towards the bike tent," Sesshomaru informed her, continuing, "I suppose Kagome is ready for the show?"

As if in answer to his question, Kagome came jogging into the tent, dressed in a sequined red club top and tight leather pants, standing tall on stilletto heels. "Okay, so you just want me to gesture to the bike and look like a slut?"

Inuyasha scowled, glancing over his shoulder and murmuring, "I could do without you looking like a slut, actually."

It was then, for the first time, that Inuyasha actually caught sight of Kagome's outfit, which clung to her curves in a way that made the strongest knees buckle. The way her hips followed a smooth contour up her side, arriving perfectly at the swell of her breast, made Inuyasha want to howl and cat call like an animal in heat. Her face was always beautiful and so was her body, of course, but those full red lips, alluring black lashes and devestating ass were simply too much for a man. He must have stared for quite some time because Kagome let out a satisfied giggle, cheeks pinking ripely.

"Your face is worth a thousand words, Inuyasha," she laughed, pleased by his speechlessness.

But before she could revel in his appraisal, Inuyasha's eyebrows fell dangerously low over his eyes, which burned an intense molten gold. "No. Abso-fucking-lutely not. You ain't goin' up there in that, not so all those other bastards can stare at you like some oversexed barbie!"

Kagome seemed rather stunned for a moment before she adopted an irritated pose, crossing her arms in an attempt to look angry when, in all reality, she merely succeeded in pushing up her breasts. "Inuyasha, who are you to say where I can stand and what I wear?"

"Your boyfriend, that's who I am!" Inuyasha replied hotly. The gap between the two was closing slowly but surely, an entertaining scene for the many spectators, which were growing with each passing word.

"Oh, so that gives you power over me?" Kagome countered; her eyes had gone from passive hazel to startling coffee in mere seconds.

"Ye- no, I mean I don't want other guys looking at you that way!"

"Everybody looks at me Inuyasha, I solid, I have arms and legs and breasts just like the next girl, I'm not invisible, they can SEE ME!" Kagome all but screamed.

"That doesn't mean they can look at you the same way I do!"

"I'm just gonna show a couple bikes as a favor to Sesshomaru, okay? It's not like I'm gonna stand up there and offer a fuck to the guy with the biggest balls!" came Kagome irate reply. Several eyebrows raised for, while Kagome cussed occasionally and was known to smoke a cigarette or two, she never got quite that vulgar in normal conversation.

Inuyasha was struck by her comment and look thoroughly taken aback. He recovered quickly, however, responding curtly, "Like anyone would take a fuck that cheap!"

Several sounds of disapproval issued from the crowd at Inuyasha's underhanded remark at Kagome's expense. Kagome, however, looked anything but hurt and actually seemed rather enraged. Fists clenched tightly, she roared, "You're just jealous cause you got the smallest balls here!"

Cheers erupted from the surrounding girls, who called Kagome's name in approval, though she didn't seem to notice. "Fuck off Inuyasha!" And with that, applause raining on her back, Kagome stormed away with her ass rocking perfectly from side to side in her leather pants. She couldn't even hear the crowd, couldn't smell the motor oil, could see the sun as it rose above the world. Her only focus remained on her last picture of Inuyasha, standing there with his amber eyes radiating betrayal and his lips drawn in a tight line. Even though she'd won the fight, Kagome couldn't help but feel as though she'd lost her entire army.

"That doesn't bode well," Akago remarked dryly to Gan, who stood stiffly at his side. Gan's boyish face was contorted with concern as he watched Inuyasha and Kagome going their separate ways, his brow furrowed tiredly.

"No, it doesn't," came Gan's numb reply.

Sighing, Sesshomaru turned to Rin, who was shaking her head solemnly at the recent exchange. "Oof, that was harsh," she muttered.

"Indeed," Sesshomaru agreed. "I only hope Inuyasha comes to his senses in time. He had a good woman."

Rin smiled brightly at Sesshomaru's abnormally high praise directed at her dear cousin. "Yeah, he did. Good enough that she'll forgive him like the saint she is if he comes crawling back."

Kagome stormed away from the scene of the fight, tears pricking at her eyes with a growing sting. She was determined to remain strong and stiff despite Inuyasha's harsh words, but what was strength anyway? Was it standing there and taking abuse with a straight face? Or was it firing back and walking away with a greater weakness than before? Inuyasha hadn't even kissed her on the lips yet, so what did that make them? Going out was one thing, but it wasn't truly consumated until the first kiss, right? Kagome wasn't sure of anything at the current time and, brushing away her tears, she hurried towards the RV and locked the door behind her.

Inuyasha watched Kagome's retreating form with an ache growing in his gut; what was this intense feeling of loss, pulling at his waistline, dragging him towards the floor? He could barely stand as he watched her, hair undulating back and forth in her retreating journey. Did she not understand the pain it caused him to watch other men staring at her? As though she could disappear on the wind, away on the breeze towards another, better man? He wasn't good enough for her, he was certain of that, but where did she get off making light of his affection? Did she not know he loved her? He hadn't ever said it, but she should know it, right?

Right?

"Twenty yen on Tobi!"

"Yeah fuckin' right, thirty on Bankotsu!"

"You're all loony, I bet Jun'll pull it out!"

On the east side of the air base, cries of triumph joined each other as they rose on the morning, saluting the soon to be performing trick riders. The trick exhibition was greatly anticipated every year and Race Wars and this year was no different, allowing for the absence of some of the recently departed gang members. Shitora and Ranbou weaved their way through the densely packed crowd, hands securely locked. Ranbou was pulling his girlfriend through the weighted group, despite her heavy tongued protests for, despite Shitora's insistence, Ranbou was fairly sure that making her own way through the crowd would be fairly difficult.

The pair finally arrived at the front of the crowd, flanked on all sides by fellow gang members, all of whom shared a general hum of excitement. Grinning, Shitora tightened her grip on Ranbou's hand. "God, I fuckin love the trick shows!"

"I know, baby girl."

Before the crowd stood four men, all of them distinct and well outfitted for the exhibition. Jun, Ayame's younger brother, and Bankotsu stood to one side, looking confident and strong, wearing identically cocky smirks. To the left stood two more men, of similiar heights and weights. The one closest to the crowd hosted a mane of vibrant yellow hair, the startling shade of a highlighter, with sky blue eyes peeking out beneath the fringe. His grin was contagious, full fanged and rather crazed, though he looked almost friendly; his clothing consisted of a white wifebeater and black camoflauge pants, several chains and braids decorating his buttons and pockets. Beside him stood a commanding person in all his splendor, tan arms crossed commandingly over his chest and cigarette letting off a winding trail of smoke. His hair, unlike his companions, was a nuclear cherry red, cut in a spiky buzz sprouting from his scalp like an out of control plant. His eyes were the shade of wet leaves and he wore similar clothes to his friend, with a black wifebeater and identical pants. These men were Tobi Skull and Benkan Bones, famed leaders of the Kyoto Jackrabbits.

Tobi and Benkan, more often called Skull and Bones, had grown up together in a dilapidated part of Sydney, Australia and, thusly, had learned to despise conformity and the constraints of government. Their parents were Japanese immigrants working in the fish business and were always poor, struggling to keep their families afloat until they could no longer fight the system. It was for this reason that, when Tobi and Benkan's families moved back to Japan when they were thirteen, they formed the Jackrabbits, a gang bent on disturbing the peace of "the man" and regaining respect for the working class. The lower class workers in Kyoto reverred the Jackrabbits as demi-Gods, glad that someone was finally acknowledging them and standing up to take a stand against the high class management. Skull and Bones were heroes in Kyoto. And Kami, did they love motorcycles. More importantly, they loved trick riding. And they were damn good at it.

"So what's the pool, Bank?" Tobi asked recklessly, long blonde hair escaping the confines of his headband and falling once more into his line of vision.

"Yeah, Bank, how much are you willing to lose?" Benkan challenged, grin mirroring that of his best friend.

Bankotsu only regarded the two men with a shining crimson stare, grin widening at the sight of his two rivals at long last. Jun narrowed his gaze at the two men for, however much he dearly loved their company, this was a competition and, to him, a war. He had dignity to make up for after his "shattering" fall two months prior. 47 pieces of bone in his arm screamed for vindication and, by god, Jun was going to give it to them.

As though reading his mind, Tobi glanced at Jun and his expression changed rather softly. "Oh yeah, mate, I heard about your fall; you alright then?"

Both Tobi and Benkan talked rather quickly and it made it difficult for most to understand. Jun, however, was quite used to Jackrabbit speak and only replied curtly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"We'll find that out for sure today," Bankotsu said with a stiff smile, obviously challenging his protege to test his limits and prove his worth. Jun took Bankotsu's coldness in stride and nodded, deferring to his leaders position to begin the festivities. "Alright gentlemen, anything you'd like to do before we get started?"

"Well I'll say," Tobi interrupted, crossing his arms belligerently. "Only two teams competing? That's mad! Where's the others?"

Benkan smiled gently at his friend and began quietly, "Skull, if they don't have any more racers, then we-"

"Nothing doing, Bones, I want real competition!" Tobi exclaimed, blowing a wayward strand of blonde away from his vision. "I want a challenge!"

Ranbou glanced down at Shitora, who was watching the scene silently; despite her quiet, he couldn't miss the battle light in her eyes, that unbidden desire of hers to join in the war and fight to the death. He'd seen Shitora trick riding recently and he was fairly sure she'd improved ten fold since their childhood when, even then, she'd been no slouch. That day when she'd distracted the police, she'd jumped three cop cars from a stand still; the girl had skills.

"Here's your challenge, Skull!" Ranbou called, raising the hand he was clasping with Shitora's. Shitora wrenched her gaze away from the scene and stared wide eyed at Ranbou, mouthing something along the lines of _what the hell are you doing? _

Tobi turned his gaze away from his opponents and stared at Ranbou, face breaking out into a grin as soon as he recognized the familiar face. "Ranbou Ookami, you bastard! And... by god, is that Shitora Taisho!" The Jackrabbit walked distractedly away from the trick riding council and made a beeline for the couple, crazy grin firmly in place. "Fuck me! You're back!"

Shitora turned away from Ranbou and grinned at Tobi, hiding whatever discomfort she may have felt for the current circumstances. "Hell yeah I am. No hoity toity boarding school was about to make a lady out of me."

"You look lady like enough for me, love," Tobi purred, grinning like a cheshire cat.

A growl erupted from Ranbou's throat but he choked it back quickly, almost surprised by his own possessiveness. His irritation hadn't gone unnoticed and Tobi blinked, surprised, before turning his gaze to the wolf demon. "Is she yours then?"

Ranbou found himself scrutinized by several pairs of eyes but he simply set his jaw, replying proudly, "Damn right. She's my girl if that's what you mean."

"Bout fuckin' time, mate," Tobi laughed, blonde hair flying around like silken straw as he shook his head with mirth. "I swear..."

"Uh, Skull?" Benkan interrupted, crossing his arms and cocking one cherry red eyebrow. "We're kind of in the middle of something here..."

As if remembering it for the first time, Tobi nodded and looked bewilderdly down at Shitora, grinning all the while. "Well, you wanna ride with us love? See what you got?"

Shitora's gaze moved back and forth between Ranbou and Tobi, mouth opening and closing several times in an unsure gesture. Several people in the crowd began cheering her on, wanting to see one of the Taisho siblings in action for themselves. Many had heard the stories, but few had actually confirmed the rumors; to all those from outside of Tokyo, the Taishos were like an urban myth.

Ranbou offered Shitora a strong smile, winking one ice blue eyes in a comforting signal. Immediately, Shitora felt herself overcome with warmth and she grinned as well, staring fearlessly back at Tobi. "Hell yeah, I'm in."

Kagome sighed and leaned back in her chair, fanning herself with an old car magazine; the sun was at its zenith and the entire air base was suffering for it. Sesshomaru stood from the table where he'd just finished a few business agreements papers and stretched his sore back; he loved the business gained at Race Wars but hated the hours spent wilting away at a desk. Glancing over at Kagome, who was still staring into the distance with a look of longing, the Fang leader rolled his eyes and retrieved his jacket from a nearby chair.

"You know he didn't mean a word spoken, except when he expressed his over protectiveness," the dog demon mused, raising a delicate eyebrow.

Kagome only nodded blankly, turning her gaze to observe her mindlessly fidgeting hands. As Sesshomaru was leaving the tent, Akago and Gan came walking up deep in conversation about something, speaking in rapid, quiet tones. Sesshomaru stopped rather shortly and said, "The Exterior Events start in half an hour."

"Indeed they do," came Akago's reply.

With that, Sesshomaru continued on his way, leaving Akago and Gan alone with a gloom faced Kagome. Gan sighed and shrugged off his jacket, letting it fall to the back of a chair before taking a seat himself. "What did we do to the Gods that made them turn up the heater?" he murmured, violet eyes tired in the wake of the sun.

Kagome barely even glanced up as the two entered, eyes unfocused as she gazed off into the distance. Akago spared her a pitying look before shedding his shirt, sitting down to revel in his mounds of ever growing paperwork. Gan, however, frowned as he took a seat beside Kagome, observing her pretty features, blank with indecision and confusion. As far as Gan could tell, Inuyasha's words were a result of jealousy and misunderstanding of Kagome's intentions, which he obviously decided were dishonorable. But for him to be so cruel...Gan simply couldn't condone it. Besides that, what little remained of her female instincts cried out for her to sympathize with the girl. Gan had to do something.

"You know, Kagome, I was about to head over to the Exterior Events if you want to join me," Gan mentioned casually, violent eyes hopeful and wide.

Blinking slightly, Kagome glanced over at Gan as though noticing him for the first time. His prettily boyish features were questioning and smooth, bringing a smile to her face, though it never reached her eyes. "I don't even know what they are, Gan, but thank you."

"Well, they're little competitions besides the racing," Gan explained, as though Kagome had never refused at all. "Wrestling, gambling, even some shooting-'

"Which Gan should enter," Akago mumbled, never glancing up from his work.

Gan rolled his eyes plantively, murmuring, "Ignore him, too much time in the sun, I do believe. We should go watch, get you out and about."

At the word "shooting" Kagome's eyes gave a visible sparkle, but soon died with the wind. "Oh, that's okay. If I'm not going to enter, I shouldn't go."

"Well, I'm sure you could enter something," Gan said with a shrug, going through the numerous events, each which was more dangerous and appalling than the next. "Or, on second thought, maybe not...well, I suppose you can stay here then," he said, throwing up his hands in defeat.

As Gan stood and began to walk defeatedly away, Kagome felt something surge up within her, a longing to get out and do something to lift her spirits. Sure, Inuysha had basically demeaned her in front of a large crowd, thrown her to the curb, made her feel like less of a woman, but she wasn't going to sit idly by and let herself waste away on his acount. It would be far too pleasing for him, as she saw it, and she was in absolutely _no _mood to please Inuyasha in any way, shape or form.

"You know what, Gan?" Kagome called after him, voice stronge and confident. "I challenge you to the shooting contest."

Gan paused, glancing confusedly over his shoulder. "You challenge me to the _what_?"

"You heard me," Kagome replied with a grin, standing resolutely to her feet. "The shooting contest. You and I are entering the shooting contest and I'm gonna kick your ass."

Akago, though working and slightly out of tune, could make out the words "shooting contest" and "kick your ass" quite clearly. Now Akago had hoped Gan would succeed in his desire to cheer Kagome's heart, but he never dreamed that she would challenge Gan to a contest so suited for his nature. His name was Gan the "gun" for crying out loud.

"Kagome, with all due respect, I'm not sure if that's the most prudent of ideas," Akago intervened, removing his reading spectacles to clean the lenses.

But Kagome merely grinned like a fox, raising one saucy eyebrow in the Shark leader's direction. "You haven't even seen me shoot yet," she replied quietly. "I'll bring the gun if you bring the game."

Gan regarded the girl mildly for a moment, as though weighing his options. He'd never seen Kagome shoot but, since she was making her challenge with such a confident air, knowing he could shoot pennies from fifty feet out, she had a trump card somewhere up her sleeve. Besides that, Kagome was finally up and cheery, ready to leave her worries and emotions behind. How could he say no to her now?

"Well, that sounds fair," Gan replied, smiling kindly. "Grab your gun and meet me at the tents near the south side of the airport in ten. Hiten!"

At the sound of his name, Hiten whirled around, wiping an arm across his damp forehead. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you escort Kagome to retrieve her gun?"

Though Bankotsu looked mildly confused and Kagome looked thoroughly peeved, they both nodded and Hiten gave Kagome a brief smile before asking her where they should head towards. Kagome sighed, realizing the whole "don't go off without a chaperone, ladies," rule was still in play. Thusly, deciding not to argue, she began leading him towards Rin's car where she planned to retrieve the pistol.

Akago watched her go, observing Gan as he did the same, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. His lean form seemed thin enough to blow away in the nonexistent breeze as he stood there, bent rather gracefully to the side.

"You're going to massacre her," Akago mentioned, as though starting an everyday conversation.

"I don't think so," Gan murmured. "She knows I'm a reknowned shooter, she doesn't like to be embarrassed, as we saw today, so why would she challenge me without a background?"

Akago chuckled, replying, "Sharp as always, my friend. Well, I'm sure you'll have a good time all things aside. Which of your collection pieces do you plan to use?"

"Probably a colt," Gan mused, still watching Kagome in the distance as she and Hiten neared the car. "I wonder what she'll use?"

"Hopefully something smaller than a shot gun," Akago joked, only earning an eyeroll from his second in command. "Well, I think I'll abandon my paper work this time. This could prove quite interesting."

"Yes," Gan replied quietly. "I do believe it could."

"I was feeling all confident and shit until you showed up," Jun muttered under his breath, glaring vehemently in Shitora's direction. Just the irritation in his emerald green eyes was enough to make Shitora laugh aloud, though she restrained herself for the time being.

Smiling mildly, she only replied, "If your confidence is that shitty and you still practice four hours a day, I'm scared for you."

Tobi's face flitted momentarily, almost a smile, but he soon resumed his position as stern leader. Grinning maniacally, he turned to the competitors and said quietly, "Ok, let's give the bitches what they want, eh?"

Bankotsu smiled disarmingly, saying easily, "I'm running short on sex and beer, but I can always pull a flip turn."

Benkan chuckled, patting Bankotsu on the back in a brotherly sort of way. "I know that's right, Bank."

"So what do you say we play a friendly game of PIG, but with more elaborate terms?" Tobi interjected, flashing a cheshire smile. The others exchanged glances, crossing their arms and preparing for the man's obviously interesting idea. Satisfied with the attention he was receiving, Tobi continued blithely, "Alright. Well, someone pulls a trick and everyone else has to copy it. If you can't copy it, you're out, no questions asked."

"That's not really PIG, mate, that's follow the leader," Benkan reminded his friend mildly, green eyes twinkling with mirth.

But Tobi was rather miffed at the correction and scowled, replying stiffly, "Whatever the hell you want to call it, smartass, be my guest."

Shrugging, Benkan exchanged grins with Bankotsu, who gave him a friendly shoulder nudge. It wasn't but maybe thrice a year the Kyoto and Tokyo gangs interracted, but when they did, it was certainly a sight to behold. Strange hair colors, mixed demon parantage, old scandal, new scandal, old and new relationships intermingling...no one was ever quite sure what was going on between all the closed doors, open doors and bizarre sexual exploits. Perhaps that's what made in interesting.

"I'm in," Bankotsu said, shrugging easily.

"Me too," Jun replied, mouth set in a determined line.

"And me," Benkan chuckled.

All eyes turned to Shitora, as though expecting her to back out, but she only replied huffily, "Of course I'm in, I didn't even have to say nothin' for you to know."

Tobi grinned full fanged, blonde fringe intercepting his eyes for the umpteenth time. "Course we did, love. Alright then, who's gonna start?"

Glances passed between the group, as though daring each other to take the audacious step forward. Finally, Bankotsu turned his crimson eyes to Shitora, murmuring silkily, "Ladies first."

Shitora's face didn't falter, though her confidence gave a painful jolt. Glancing menially over her shoulder, the hanyou just barely managed to meet eyes with Ranbou, who offered her a full fanged grin, winking one ice blue eye in reassurance. A smile crept over her lips and, returning her now steady amber eyes to meet those of her competitors, she purred, "Don't mind if I do. 'Scuse me boys, I'm gonna show you how it's done."

**To be continued...**

**Hey guys; I've been having a few troubles, as you read above, and I'm trying valliantly to get this chapter out. Here's half of it. I'll work on the other half, but this suspenseful little bit can tide you over for a while. So sorry!**

**KOLU**


	25. Getting Air and Grabbing Guns Part II

**Okay, so continuing with chapter 23. Now to the meat of it all. BTW, thanks to all my reviewers who constantly beg for reviews and jokingly say they stalk me and are in love with me. Seriously, ya'll make my day. My friends are like, "200+ reviews? what the HEYALL?" which is how people in Texas say "hell." At the end of the chapter, I have included a chart of Texas equivalents to words you say daily. **

**Thanks to Rae-Chan, who let me know that I was doing too much Ran/Tora; I do that when I fear writing another section because, hell, I made them up, I can make them do anything and its "in character." But the others...are hard. But I'm getting better! There's lot's of Inu/Kag in this chapter! Thanks Rae-Chan!**

**Also thanks to the person who said they would write me a lemon...I lost your email and I didn't record the name and I've forgotten who you are, but don't fret, you're in my good books for LIFE cause I can't write sex. Haha. Email me again! The lemon is coming I'm sure. **

**Alright, enjoy everybody. **

Sunlight flickered off the barrel of the pistol in Kagome's hand as she squinted, allowing her chocolate brown eyes to set a straight path down the gun sight. The feeling of cold metal in her hands was invigorating yet frightening, though Kagome could think of no better feeling in the world than that of power mixed with a slight hint of danger. Hiten felt a shiver run down his spine as he observed the girl judging the gun, a beautiful creature caressing a homicidal weapon. He'd never even connected Kagome with guns, but he could tell as she held it, aligning the sight with the mid afternoon sun, that she'd held one before. Many times before.

"Kagome, is that...loaded?"

Blinking, as though remembering Hiten for the first time, Kagome turned her calculating eyes to meet his unsure crimson ones. "Yeah, it's loaded."

"Oh."

Glancing down at Rin's convertible, under the seat of which Kagome had withdrawn the hand gun, Hiten couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious. Why would someone bouncy, bubbly and flirtatious like Rin keep something like a pistol in her car? Furthermore, why did Kagome know about it? And why in the world did she even know how to use the thing? It was, frankly, a bizarre situation for Hiten. He was all for women's rights, but the entire lot of boys in the gangs were fiercely overprotective of their girls. Weren't 300 watch dogs enough to satisfy them? Watching Kagome's pretty face solemn like a stone as she observed the weapon seemed so...wrong.

"You look like you know what you're doin' with that thing," Hiten mentioned casually, eyebrow arching gracefully over his forehead.

Kagome just shrugged, spinning the pistol with an eerie carelessness on her index finger. "I've shot a few times."

"Hm, weird," Hiten murmured, almost to himself, before realizing he'd uttered the words aloud. Unfortunately for him, Kagome had managed to overhear.

"Excuse me?"

When faced with Kagome's irritated glare, the scorn of women everywhere descending down upon him, Hiten could barely formulate a coherent sentence. "Well," he stuttered, trying to make up for his blunder, "I just never thought you were, you know, violent. Not that guns make you violent, depending on how you use em and shit, but, you know, you seemed like a...well, maybe a..."

"A what?" Kagome challenged.

"Maybe a...pacifist? I dunno, you could've hit people all those times before, gotten angry at people, and you never did."

Just from the earnest look in his eyes, Kagome knew Hiten was far from joking in the matter. After a moment of bone chilling, speculator glances, she finally replied, "I was a pacifist once, I guess. But then I realized there was a problem with being a pacifist."

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes menially, muscles tensing despite his awareness. "What problem?"

"I might have been a pacifist, but lots of people weren't."

With this, Kagome turned on her heels and began walking resolutely in the direction of the airport's South side. Hiten, momentarily stunned by the situation, had to shake his head clear of thoughts before jogging after his charge, wondering all the while whether or not she really needed protection in the crowd. While a girl carrying a gun on the streets would normally be a cause for alarm, most people at Race Wars were toting weapons; you never knew who might be lurking in the audience. This realized, the two made their way silently across the concrete ocean, never stopping to speak or pausing to reflect on their lives; it simply wasn't the time.

The Exterior Events were held in quite an informal way, like side entertainment for those less interested in racing or bored with cars. To the far left, a crowd of interested onlookers shouted encouragement to their favorite fighters, who battled within the ring created by their audience. Every once and a while, a hearty cheer went up when a particularly gruesome punch was landed, but most were getting rather used to the bloodshed since their were practically no rules.

In the middle, was the ever popular drinking contest, which seemed to be drawing quite a crowd as a Jackrabbit and a Fang went up for the trophy. Beer sloshed this way and that, working in tandem with the encouraging screams of friends and gang members. Both contestants looked thoroughly drunk and about ready to pass out, though the only things keeping them awake were the yells.

On the far right, however, stood a much more serious crowd, awaiting the start of the famous Race Wars Shooting Competition. While the gangs loved to participate in light banter and fun games, they were perfectly aware that shooting was no matter to joke about. Bullets could kill and, therefore, should be regarded with a sort of reverence and respect that the gangs rarely paid. In kind with this belief, the crowd was solemn and whispered amongst themselves as the shooters began to assemble at the head of the crowd, standing behind a duct tape line some twenty feet from twenty paper targets, suspended on a wire at about 6 foot eye level. Hiten glanced over at Kagome's determined face and nearly shuddered; she looked positively frightening.

Kagome walked boldly towards the front of the crowd, ignoring the scandalized look on nearly every face. She couldn't understand the skepticism radiating from all those who looked upon her until a rather kind faced Cobra held her back with one strong arm. "Watch out, girl, they're about to start shooting up there.

Cocking an eyebrow, Kagome shot back rather sharply, "At a shooting contest? No way."

The boy blushed quite violently, glancing at Hiten with questioning eyes. Hiten just shrugged his tan shoulders, saying, "She's competing, Brick. Don't stand in the lady's way, let her through."

Brick, scratched his blonde head confusedly, removing the arm blocking Kagome's way at a slow, reluctant pace. Kagome burst through the crowd, arriving where the other shooters were assembling in no time. Gan, who was chatting with a few of the other competitors, called out, "Kagome!" before beckoning her over.

Two of the men in Gan's group were recognizable, to Kagome, who'd had the pleasure of making their acquaintances a few times during her stay at Race Wars. One was Razz of the Rhythms, who's many facial piercings gave his confused expression a rather odd twist; a few of his blonde dreadlocks were beginning to escape his tree trunk thick ponytail, but Kagome's presence seemed to be attracting all the attention he was currently willing to give. The other recognizable face belonged to Fucking Mad Max, whose gnarled skin contorted grotesquely as he let loose a soul chilling grin. His violet eyes seemed to take in every inch of Kagome as she approached with her pistol, demeanor fearless and unfazed by the circumstances. Kagome was the only girl competing at the shooting range.

"Hey, Kagome, meet some friends of mine," Gan mentioned, gesturing to the group of men surrounding him.

Nodding briefly to the others, who nodded back, Kagome locked eyes briefly with Razz and Max, who both allowed small smiles; originally, her presence had startled them. Now it just amused them.

"Alright everyone," announced a leather clad Jackrabbit, drawing the attention away from Kagome's entrance. "We're ready to start. Shooters, line up in front of a target."

The shooters did as they were told, twenty shooters standing strong in front of their paper targets. As soon as the announcer took a head count, noting the number of contestants, he raised his voice over the melee, bringing the crowd to quiet. "The rules are as follows," he shouted. "Every man...or woman," he added, stealing a glance at Kagome, "must hit their mark in the two closest rings to the center at the very least. Any farther from the bulls eye and you're out. Argue with the judge's call and we'll have you...escorted away." At this, two burly looking Rhythms stepped forward, strong faces set in frightening straight lines. The crowd went silent, knowing that dispute would not be an issue. "After every round, the remaining shooters must step back to the next duct tape line. So, everyone in the audience is gonna have to step back with them. Don't walk behind the competition. If you get shot, it's your own fucking fault. Shooters, does everyone have a gun of the pistol and six shooter variety?"

The shooters raised their guns above their heads, proving every weapon do be small and light weight. The announcer nodded, turning grimly to face the crowd once more. "On my mark."

Kagome drew in a deep breath, clearing her mind of Inuyasha's angry face, his bloody body, and Miroku's burning car remains. She immediately forgot about complicated relationships, her adjunct membership to the Wildcats, that familiar poisonous feeling of guilt and worthlessness she got whenever she stood with the others. Today she would prove herself. Today she would make her presence known and understood to all those who witnessed her gun. Today she would become a Wildcat if it was the last thing she did.

"One!" the announcer shouted.

Pistols and six shooters raised in a chorus, metal glimmering dangerously in the light. Shooters aligned their eyes along the sights, glaring at the paper targets as though they told the future with their simple bull's eyes.

"Two!"

Hammers cocked back under strong thumbs as the air grew silent and the other Exterior Events came to a brief close; concentrating beneath the chaotic sounds of the shooting competition was much too taxing. The entire South Side of the airport seemed to still in that one breathing moment as the paper targets lay still in the motionless air.

"Mark!"

Shitora stared at the ramp before her, looming like a great giant before her David's slingshot. Her red Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 gave a rumble beneath her as she revved the engine, deaf to all but her heartbeat and erratic breathing. It wasn't that trick riding made her nervous, but simply that it made her excited. She loved to think her chances of winning were greater than the sum of her height, but she knew that, up against Skull, Bones, Bankotsu and Jun, her chances of winning were slim to none. _Oh fucking well, _she thought carelessly, letting loose a wild grin, _at least I have great boobs._

Revving the engine, Shitora let loose a wild scream and urged the bike forward, picking up maddening speed as she rocketed forward. The wind ripped her white hair backwards with a startling force, leaving it to flow like a great silver mane behind her as she approached the ramp ever still. The crowd watched in rapt anticipation as Shitora began the ramp's incline and, in a single moment, the Ninja powered itself into the air, red case gleaming in the sunlight. Shitora removed her hands from the handle bars when she reached an acceptable height and placed them adjacently on the seat, pushing herself into a momentary handstand before turning a 360 back into a sitting position. Whistles and wild cheers met her feat and Tobi Skull looked thoroughly amused.

Ranbou shook his head mildly, clapping all the while with a small smile creeping up on his lips.

"She's quite something, aye mate?"

Slightly startled by the voice, Ranbou glanced over to meet the eyes of Benkan Bones, whose cherry bomb hair seemed to straighten even taller with his impish grin. The lean Jackrabbit switched his eyes back and forth between Shitora, who had just made a flawless landing, and Ranbou, whose eyebrows were indefinitely raised.

Ranbou offered his friend a grin. "Yeah, she is."

"Bet she moves like that all the time, aye?" Benkan prodded, grin growing lecherous as he elbowed Ranbou knowingly in the ribs with one razor sharp arm.

At this, Ranbou merely shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

"Wouldn't know? The man who fucks everything in a skirt?" Benkan asked incredulously.

Benkan's face was a stark blank as Ranbou continued clapping, letting loose a brief howl as Shitora grinned at him in the crowd, walking excitedly back towards the center ring. Their eyes met momentarily, revealing a feeling much deeper than the usual infatuation, and Ranbou's smile softened. Benkan didn't miss the look which passed between the two and his mechanic's mind began quickly piecing together the fragments of their rag-tag love affair.

"You're falling, aren't you Ookami?"

At this, Ranbou only lowered his eyebrows and quirked his lips in a disbelieving stare, replying boredly, "Naw, not me, Bones."

"No, you are, I just saw that look!" Benkan continued, poking Ranbou's naked chest with one long nailed pointer finger.

"Eh, keep your claws away, snake breath," came Ranbou's dismissive reply; during their entire conversation, his eyes never left Shitora.

Back at the front of the crowd, Shitora jogged up to meet Tobi, whose sky blue eyes were twinkling with mirth and excitement. "Well done, sheila," he said appreciatively, taking Shitora in a brotherly, one armed hug. Immediately upon his touch, Shitora felt an electrifying shock consume her and she allowed her eyes to drift briefly back to the crowd, where she found Ranbou's eyes almost instantly. He looked fit to kill, if she could put a euphemism to it, and it was only a second later that she realized what effect Tobi's physical nature was having on her boyfriend. She was used to the Jackrabbits giving her hugs, picking her up, kissing the top of her head, snapping her bra; frankly, gang members seemed to be physical creatures in general. If Ranbou was going to have a problem with that, then his problems would most likely be ongoing.

"Whoah," Tobi murmured mildly, arms jerking back at a rather quick pace. Shitora looked mildly confused, but soon saw a thin line of blood appear on one of the blonde's tan, muscled arms, dripping carelessly down the contours of his bones.

"What happened?" she murmured, glancing around at the cheering crowds, naive to the goings on at the center circle. She soon glanced over at Ranbou, whose arms were crossed and eyebrow lowered. She could see him palming something small and circular, almost like a pebble; the ground was littered with rocks and gravel across the entire air force base, a product of ill-keep and forgetfulness by the government. She put together the recent goings on quickly and her tiny lips pursed with indignation; Ranbou was using his demon strength to flick pebbles at Tobi, who seemed to put together the events almost as quickly as Shitora.

"Awful protective, isn't he?" Skull murmured, wiping off the thin trail of blood as his skin began to heal at demonic speed. "Excuse me for hugging a girl I've known since we were ten."

Shitora huffed out an irritated breath, hissing almost inaudibly, "You are so going to get it, Ranbou."

Deciding to get on with the competition as though nothing had transpired, Tobi glanced over at Jun, whose orange red hair was shadowing his young face from view. "You next, then, Jun?"

Jun didn't startle at his name and only shrugged, walking calmly towards the parked bikes near the ramp. The competition continued in earnest.

"Sputtering, you said?"

Ayame continued jotting down information on a Rhythm's car, nodding every once and a while as he described what sounded like a failing engine. The potent scent of motor oil and electricity reverberated around the Mechanics tent, mixing with the sound of drilling and hum of excited gang life. Countless cars were lined up in rows of headlights and bumpers, hoods open like saluting soldiers. Ayame thanked her customer for his business and taped the note she'd just jotted down onto the fender, glancing at the line of cars awaiting her expertise. Just as she did so, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Still racking up business?"

Chuckling, Ayame placed her hands over Kouga's, which were locked securely around her hips. "Yeah."

"Hell, Aya, you've got at least ten more jobs than anyone in this room," Kouga murmured, glancing at the car corral for the first time.

"What can I say?" Ayame replied, shrugging lazily. "Everyone wants to see me greased up bending over an engine. It's a common fantasy."

"One of mine for sure," Kouga replied wolfishly, spinning Ayame around and hoisting her up until he was carrying her like a baby in his arms. She began to laugh, telling him incoherently to put her down and leave her to her work, though he seemed unwilling to do either.

Sesshomaru and Rin lingered near the mouth of the tent, watching Kouga and Ayame enact their romantic scene. "Ah, young love," Rin cooed, lacing her fingers with Sesshomaru's.

The dog demon chuckled, cocking one silver eyebrow as he muttered, "And here I thought they were working so diligently on the orders and instead, they're running around like two love struck idiots, not even touching a wrench. I feel cheated."

Rin giggled slightly, giving her boyfriend's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Aw, c'mon, Sesshy, you knew they couldn't resist such a romantic scene!"

Glancing about the room, eyes landing momentarily on grease puddles, tire tracks and discarded tools, Sesshomaru responded wryly, "When we start to find this scene 'romantic,' you know we've spent too much time under the hood of a car."

"Or too much time in the back seat of the car," Rin joked smoothly, winking one mischievous brown eye. Sesshomaru grinned and seemed to be running through mental film of their most recent back seat encounter. Rin eventually rolled her eyes and smacked his rear end lightly. "Not the time or the place, Sess."

"But we could _make _it the time and place," came Sesshomaru's reasonable reply.

Despite her attempt to adopt an irritated face, Rin couldn't help but curl her lips in a small, sardonic smile. "Sex hound."

Before either couple could continue their playful banter, Inuyasha came skulking into the tent, face downcast and hands shoved angrily in his pockets. A cloud of gloom seemed to accompany him and Sesshomaru's smile melted slowly down to a frown, leaving his once happy face in its normal state of apathy. "Oh, look who decided to ruin my mood with his presence."

Rin sighed, rubbing the small of Sesshomaru's back with one tiny hand. "Don't let him affect you, he's just pissed because of his fight with Kagome."

Inuyasha continued his gloomy march until he reached the Fang's car corral, where he promptly leaned back against a fire red Mazarati and lit a cigarette. Kouga and Ayame watched him for a moment before their happiness seemed to deflate and Kouga set Ayame gently to her feet, shrugging his shoulders when she gave a heavy sigh. Inuyasha's bad mood seemed to douse everyone's flame.

"Yash, what's got your thong in a twist?" Kouga asked crudely, cocking one thin eyebrow.

At first, the wolf received no reply; thinking his question ignored, Kouga threw up his hands and turned to walk away. Inuyasha's low tone voice stopped him in his tracks, however, when Kouga was no more than ten feet away from the corral. "Women. Damnit."

Turning slowly to face his fellow gang member, Kouga echoed, "Women?"

"Women."

Ayame's eyebrows settled at a dangerously low line on her face, adding to the fierceness of her bare crossed arms. Kouga stepped quickly in front of her, however, hoping to prevent a feminist outburst while simultaneously solving Inuyasha's problems. "What about women, dude? Kagome? That fight you had, is that it?"

"Part of it," Inuyasha said darkly, tiring of his newly lit cigarette and throwing it carelessly to the ground. "And the other part is I'm just fucking sick of this whole 'dating' thing. I mean, it's not like we're gonna get hitched, so why waste my time?"

Kouga blinked, ice blue eyes fluttering in and out of view at an alarming rate, before he finally said, "Well, I think marriage is kinda beside the point, dude." Inuyasha only snorted and Kouga's confusion deepened. "And what's this shit about wasting your time?"

"They're all the same, Ookami, all of em. Give em an inch and they run a mile in the other fucking direction. Turn your back for one goddamned minute and they're sucking some other guy's cock, know what I mean?" Inuyasha drawled, amber eyes unfocused as he glared at the ceiling, white hair falling in curtains around the Mazarati.

By this time, Ayame had grown thoroughly enraged by the anti-woman statements and decided, for her and Inuyasha's combined health, to move far, far away from the conversation. With this opening staring him in the face, Kouga closed the gap between Inuyasha and himself, leaning against the Mazarati with a similar arrogance to his posture. "So, this is about Kikyo then?"

"Naw, it's about women in general. All of em are like that, I found out the hard way. I mean, Kagome was gonna stand up there presenting cars _trying _to look like a slut. And looking like a slut for anyone but your boyfriend is like cheating, right?" Inuyasha asked, obviously wrestling quite seriously with this matter.

Kouga mused over the suggestion for a moment, dark hair floating gracefully in a stray electric fan wind. "I dunno, dude. That sounds like a shaky rebuttal to me. Cause if you guys get dressed in the morning and she gets looking slutty, its for you. As soon as you leave the house, everyone else is open to look. You agree?"

Inuyasha's already thunder dark face seemed to grow a hideous shade of jealous green-black, contorted like a Picasso painting. "But she shouldn't look slutty everyday, man, that's...cheap."

This, however, seemed to only raise Kouga's eyebrows another centimeter as he glanced at his girlfriend, who was discussing business with a fellow mechanic across the tent. She was wearing a red bikini top and a pair of tight leather pants, red curls spiraling down her back like a waterfall. Kouga could barely make out the points of her stiletto heels, stark against the airport's concrete floor. "Aya looks slutty everyday. Except when she wears, like, her overalls. All the girls look slutty everyday. It's like a Wildcat tradition or something."

"Yeah, but Kagome's not a Wildcat."

At this, Kouga glanced away from his girlfriend and met Inuyasha's eyes, seemed almost confused but recognitive. "I always forget that. Why do you think they haven't asked her yet?"

Inuyasha snorted, toeing a dead cigarette butt with his boot. "For the same reason I ain't kissed her yet. We're all holding on to Kikyo."

"Mark!"

Shots exploded across the air force base, alerting all those in the general vicinity that either the shooting contest had begun or that the Fangs and the Tarantulas had finally come to their wit's end.

When the dust cleared and all shots had been taken, the mediator jogged forward, examining the targets before announcing, "Shooters 1, 2, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, and 20 remain. The others, please step back from the line."

Grumbling and griping, the unnamed shooters stepped back into the crowd, guns dangling disappointedly at their sides. When the remaining shooters stood alone, they glanced up and down the line to assess their competition. As expected, Gan the Gun stood tall at station 9, bullet straight through the center of the bull's eye. Several Jackrabbits were left, as they often held shooting contests for fun at their headquarters, and grinned at each other from stations 1, 12, 13, 17, 18 and 20. Razz glanced over at Mad Max, whose gnarled face was completely blank and still; shooting had always calmed him. Razz's bullet had gone through the ring just outside the bull's eye in station 15 while Max's was slightly closer to the center in station 6. As the shooters glanced around, several of them blinked and stayed their eyes on the shooter in booth number 2.

Kagome stared straight ahead at her target, the bull's eye of which was conspicuously missing. Razz returned his eyes to Max, who happened to meet his gaze, both of them looking slightly startled. Gan, however, seemed completely unsurprised and merely smiled to himself, pretty face calm and unaffected. He simply glanced down at his gun and began polishing a smudge on the barrel.

The Jackrabbit next to Kagome in station 1 let out a low whistle, grinning full fanged as he looked at Kagome's target with a pair of keen yellow demon eyes. His sky blue dreadlocks, held in a high ponytail at the top of his head and tipped with beads, clanked together as he turned to face the girl beside him. "Nice shot then, girl! Give me a hit for that!"

He held out his hand and Kagome grinned a little in response, slapping hands with the friendly Jackrabbit. As far as she could tell, he was British like Max and quite like the rest of his gang, sociable and kind. All the Jackrabbits she'd met thus far wore baggy, ripped jeans covered in braids and patches with a running jackrabbit on the left back pocket. She supposed it was like their equivalent to the leather jackets worn by the other gangs. They seemed to enjoy being original.

"Thanks. How'd you do?" she asked, glancing over at his target. The bullet had impacted the target what appeared to be a mere quarter of a centimeter from the bull's eye. "You were really damn close," she commented menially.

Shrugging, the blue haired demon replied skeptically, "Eh, I've been closer in me time. How long have you been shooting, love?"

"Ten years? Somewhere around then, when I was seven or eight," Kagome replied.

"Heh, longer than me," the Jackrabbit said with a rueful smile, rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly.

"Aw, c'mon now, Axle, you missed the fucking bulls eye!"

The Jackrabbit with whom Kagome was speaking turned at what was obviously his name, grinning when he met eyes with Mad Max. "Right? My bad, mate."

"You're damn right its your fucking bad," Max responded, grinning crazily all the while; Kagome couldn't recall seeing him quite so friendly with another person except for possibly Inuyasha. "One of us has to finish this fucking thing."

Turning back to Kagome, Axle said with a smile, "That's me best mate Max. Known him since we were round six or seven; we're both from Cheapside."

"In London?" Kagome asked incredulously.

Axle raised his eyebrows. "What, you think I talk like a Cockney for fun then?"

"I guess not, I just never put Max together with London I guess," Kagome mused, trying to mesh ideas of tea-sipping royalty with Max spewing "fuck" at brunch with a crumpet in his hand. "So you knew him before the...tailpipe incident?"

Axle sighed, eyes growing almost weary. "Yeah, I did. Favorite with the girls before then, but he hasn't dated since. He wasn't sour like he is now before then, either."

Before Kagome and Axle could speak further, the mediator stepped forward and said, "Alright, everyone present for round two, step back to the next duct tape line."

The competitors exchanged glances and stepped back in unison, stopping when their toes rested just behind the duct tape line. This move left them a neat five feet farther than their first shot was from the mark. Once more, the mediator began his count.

"One."

...raise...

"Two."

...cock...

"Mark."

bang.

At the trick riding competition, the festivities had continued for an entire four rounds and no one had given up the chase yet. Every contestant seemed perfectly matched for his or her other opponents and executed the chosen trick with remarkable precision. The audience remained rapt to attention, despite the nearly unbearable heat. So far, Shitora, Jun, Bankotsu and Benkan had set the precedent with their tricks for the others to follow. Now, it was Tobi's turn.

The blonde grinned wildly, fangs glimmering in the light, as he adjusted his headband and strutted on up to his motorcycle, a silver Kawasaki racing bike. It had a red skull spray painted on the side to denote his ownership and he gave the drawing a brief pat before mounting his bike. "Top this," he said confrontationally to his opponents, shooting them the middle finger before spitting out his cigarette and revving the engine.

Tobi took off like a shot, a mere blur against the hum of Race Wars life as he ascended the ramp, rocketing off the incline with such force that he gained almost twice the air that the others had. Many in the crowd gasped as he flew through the bright blue afternoon, grinning crazily with a rush of adrenaline. And then Tobi Skull did the unthinkable.

He let go of the handles.

Flying free in the atmosphere, Tobi tucked his head to his chest and rolled twice in midair, straightening out like a board to gain momentum towards his falling bike. He caught the handlebars deftly, placing himself down on the seat and bringing the motorcycle in for an incredibly hard pressed landing. The crowd began cheering and hefting their beers almost immediately, pleased with the obnoxiously difficult trick, and the other riders merely exchanged stone faced glances.

Ranbou tried to ease his breathing, but he couldn't seem to calm it; the thought of Shitora attempting such a trick rather frightened him. She was by no means a trick rider by trade, which Tobi, Benkan and Jun were, and she didn't have the natural talent for it that Bankotsu did. To perform that trick, she would need a little more than two weeks of practice.

At the head of the crowd, Benkan clapped sardonically for Tobi as he made his way toward them, bowing cleverly to the crowd. "Well done, Skull, a trick to capture your narcissism and your love of crowd pleasing."

Tobi only winked at his best friend, neither accepting nor denying the claims made. Bankotsu was smirking to himself while Jun's face remained ever impassive, but Shitora had a rather strange look in her eyes. Benkan, who was standing directly beside her, tore his gaze away from Tobi, who was bowing even deeper to the crowd, and asked casually, "Doing alright, sweetheart?"

Shitora managed to crack a small smile and said quietly, "I think I better leave this one to the professionals."

Tobi's keen ears caught this statement and he whipped around, looking quite outraged by it all. "What?! You're conceding?!"

"Well, its a little out of my skill range, Skull, and we both know that," Shitora reasoned, raising an eyebrow in the boy's direction.

Blinking, Tobi adopted an almost guilty expression as though he were purposefully kicking Shitora out of the competition. Rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly, he murmured, "Well, shit, sheila, I didn't mean to..."

"Tobi, it's a competition," Shitora reminded him, winking saucily in his direction. "I was kinda dragged into it anyway. Besides all that, I know how it's gonna end."

With that, Shitora held up both her hands to show a concede and jogged towards Ranbou, who looked more than a little relieved. "You did great, baby..." he started.

"Don't you talk to me, Ranbou," Shitora hissed, voice almost inaudible in her ire. "If you can't learn to share me with the 6 billion other people on this planet, you better learn not to have me at all."

Ranbou blinked, obviously realizing that she was referring to his stone flicking earlier in the competition. Lowering his eyebrows, he began to say something only to find himself cut off once more. "Don't even say anything. You're already in the dog house as it is." And with this, Ranbou's mouth clamped shut and Shitora turned on her heels, stalking away from the trick riding and, more importantly, her possessive boyfriend. Ranbou could only watch her go and he sighed, too fuming to even remember the rule he and the other boys had imposed upon the girls, now called the "Big Brother Rule."

Crossing his arms, Ranbou decided to wait until the competition was over; he shouldn't ruin his day over one little fight with his girlfriend, right? Right.

"Impeccable. How are they doing it, mate?"

Max shrugged, reaching into his pocket for a case of cigarettes. "God only fucking knows. Look at his posture, fucking incredible." His eyes narrowed as he observed Gan, who raised his gun with a practiced precision and set his violet eye on the sight, finger barely touching the trigger of his six shooter. The slope of his back was perfectly curved in as straight a line as man could make, his arm out raised perpendicular to his back. The very sight he made was almost godly, silhouetted against the sunlight as yet more people joined the growing throng of spectators.

Axle jumped at a hand on his shoulder, so focused on the competition that he could barely even hear the goings on around him. Hiten's crimson eyes glittered mischievously at the distress he'd caused the Jackrabbit and he grinned. "Alright there, Ax?"

"Fine," Axle grunted. "Busy watchin' the match, mate, jus' like everyone else."

"Right," Hiten murmured, throwing his cigarette to the ground and crushing it beneath his boot. "I'm gonna go on ahead and catch up with Bank at the trick race, hear he's in the finals or somethin'. You keep an eye out on Kagome for me?"

Raising an eyebrow, Max asked rather caustically, "What, you her bloody brother or something?"

"Nope, just a rule we put in place after some shit went down in Tokyo. All the girls gotta have a chaperone during the race and, don't tell them this, but for a few weeks after we get home too," Hiten explained. "We don't trust Naraku. Not a fuckin' bit, man."

"Well, I don't blame you mate. Nobody trusts that crazy gaff. Alright, we'll watch her," Axle reassured him, giving Hiten a meaty pat on the shoulder. Smiling, Hiten nodded and disappeared into the crowd, ambling towards the trick race.

Hiten had almost arrived at the trick race when someone shouted his name, alerting his attention from the South. Glancing up, Hiten waved to a shirtless Inuyasha, who jogged up, tan skin glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. There was grease smudged on his bicep, a telling sign of the machine shop. "Hey, Yash, you been workin?"

"Yeah, tryin' to take my mind offa Kagome," Inuyasha replied, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

Hiten raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Did it work?"

"No."

"Mhmm. What you up to now then?" Hiten asked conversationally, trying not to damage Inuyasha's already wounded pride.

"Looking for Kagome. I'm gonna talk it out with her," Inuyasha admitted, amber eyes glittering with resentment; he was obviously forcing himself to do this and by no small means. Hiten knew it must be eating his friend up inside to admit such a thing as self wrong.

"She's at the shooting competition, but I gotta go man, I'm off to the trick race," Hiten said, glancing down at his watch.

Inuyasha nodded, thanking Hiten before walking off in the direction of the shooting competition. He could barely make out a large crowd gathered around the shooting arena, still and quite as the competitors continued their match. He narrowed his gaze, trying to make out Kagome's face in the audience, but to no avail. He managed to make his way around the large crowd to the front, nodding to familiar faces, even to some unfamiliar ones who knew the Taisho name. When he caught sign of Max and Axle at the front, he jogged up to him and slapped hands with the Jackrabbit and Scorpion, smiling smally in greeting.

"Hey, you guys seen Kagome?" The friends snorted simultaneously, chuckling to one another. Inuyasha narrowed his gaze and crossed his brawny arms with a hint of irritation. "Yeah, what's so funny?"

Axle shook his head, placing a hand under Inuyasha's chin and turning his face to observe the competition before him, which he hadn't even bothered to recognize. "There's your girl, mate."

Inuyasha's jaw went slack and his eyes widened to the size of tea plates as he observed his beautiful girlfriend, normally friendly eyes cold and calculated as she zoned in on the target before her. "What...the...hell," came his only words, detached and confused.

Max grinned, contorting his mutilated face in a twisted shape. "You're late, my friend. We're already in the sixteenth round and neither of them is showing signs of fucking slowing."

Indeed, Kagome and Gan stood side by side, having moved from their stations to stand adjacent to one another. They were already a round fifty feet back from the target, though standing in the strangest position. Each of them had twisted their body so the they were profiled against the sun, heads turned to face the targets as they shot under their left arms. The mediator shouted, "Mark!" and the guns exploded again, startling Inuyasha, who was not at all prepared. He jumped slightly, covering his sensitive ears, as the surrounding demons winced. Gunshots were not among their favorite sounds.

Blinking, Inuyasha squinted, trying to make out the targets from such a distance. The mediator stepped forward when the smoke had cleared, observing both targets with keen demon eyes before turning and announcing. "Bulls eye on both counts!"

Many in the audience applauded and whistled, while others groaned and some gasped. Inuyasha heard someone behind him murmur, "God, the fucking sixteenth time in a row!"

Inuyasha could barely even comprehend mortal sound as he said woodenly, "S-sixteen?"

"That's right, mate," Axle said jovially, giving Inuyasha such a forceful pat on the back that the half demon vibrated with the hit. "Your girl's a regular hot shot."

"I didn't even know," Inuyasha mumbled, words mushy and undefined in his confusion.

Max laughed at the expression on his face, saying skillfully around his cigarette, "And you call yourself a boyfriend, mate? Your fucking out of your tree, my son."

Even though he knew Max was partially joking, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel slightly guilty from the remark. Even in his humor, Max had a point. Shouldn't a boyfriend know if his girlfriend could shoot well enough to rival Gan the Gun and make sixteen bulls eyes in a row? Shouldn't he know things like that?

Gan held up his hand to the mediator, pulling bullets from his pocket and unlocking the barrel to reload his six shooter. Kagome sighed, glancing up at the sweltering sun and wiping sweat from her brow. She reached down for the hem of her tank top, beginning to peel it off her skin..._"You ain't goin' up there in that, not so all those other bastards can stare at you like some oversexed Barbie!" _Kagome's eyes pinched closed as she tried to force herself to continue removing the shirt. _"Like anyone would take a fuck that cheap!"_

As quick as the sixteen shots she'd fired that afternoon, Kagome's hand dropped from her shirt hem and she tried to ignore the tears pricking at her eyes. Gan glanced up at Kagome as he deftly reloaded his gun. "Are you alright, Kagome?"

Kagome blinked, turning away from Gan as more tears joined the ones collecting in her eyes; in that one moment, she missed Inuyasha so much she could barely even breathe. Wasn't that a strange reaction? This was the man who'd called her a whore, told her she was "oversexed" and called her a "cheap fuck." She'd fought with him over something ridiculous and stupid, so why should she miss him at all? It was his fault, right? But all she could think about in that single moment was Inuyasha's strong arms surrounding her, that smell of mint and machinery which she'd come to love; there was something so carnal and yet so safe about it. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

"Kagome?"

"What?" she asked quickly, wiping away her tears and glancing over at Gan.

Gan's eyes held something sad as he observed her rather pitifully on the outside. On the inside, female Gan was nearly in tears of rage and indignance. After those ridiculous things Inuyasha had said to Kagome that morning, she was still missing him? Oh, perhaps Akago was the mind reader, but Gan was smart enough to figure it out for herself...himself...whichever self Gan had assumed at the moment. Frankly, Gan had found whatever gender lines he'd or she'd once had dissolving as of late. He, or she, wasn't sure what he or she was anymore. Man or woman? Or...boy or girl? Could Gan really consider him or herself grown at this point? Gan was still masquerading as a boy when her genetalia defined her as a woman. But didn't her persona define him as a man? He was definitely more of a man than woman when it came to most reasoning and behavior. But didn't she still feel that woman's sympathy in situations like this?

Blinking away his thoughts, Gan the Gun assumed his outside figure and glanced down at the gun in his hand. Men and women were on the same plane when wielding weapons like guns; no matter who fired it, someone still died and a family still wept. So did gender really matter in the end? Gan had once read an article saying that women were better shooters because of their steadiness and ability to retain focus for a longer period of time. In effect, Gan was currently disproving this theory to all those in the audience and proving the theory to himself. _Funny, _he thought, smirking bitterly. _There's two women in this competition and no one will ever know._

"You seemed like you were about to cry just now," Gan mentioned, fixing Kagome with a level violet gaze.

His gaze was so intense that Kagome was nearly forced to look away, finding it rather hard to concentrate on her words while simultaneously trying to hold back her tears. Nodding quickly, she choked out, "I was just overcome by...the heat."

Dropping the last bullet in the barrel, Gan said quietly, "Yes, the heat. You do look a little flushed. Would you like to sit down for a moment?"

"No, I'm fine," Kagome assured him, heart nearly shattering as she stood there. She wasn't sure why her fight with Inuyasha had taken so long to catch up with her, but this was neither the time or the place for an emotional breakdown.

"If you're sure," Gan replied, eyeing her warily. Whether or not it was Kagome missing Inuyasha or actually succumbing to heat stroke, neither of them were things to play with.

Nodding strongly, Kagome announced clearly, "On to round seventeen."

The mediator, not sure what had transpired between the two competitors, nodded and thought for a moment, saying, "Alright, how about the opposite shooting hand then?"

Gan and Kagome both let out small groans, exchanging dreading glances before passing their guns over to their opposite hands.

In the crowd, Inuyasha was puzzling over the small hint of salty water he'd caught on the air, obviously that of tears, and for a moment he'd imagined them falling from his Kagome's eyes. But no, their fight wouldn't affect her like that; after all, she was probably still consumed with too much rage to feel any sadness. It was then that Inuyasha noticed both shooters switching gun hands.

"What are they doing?" he asked curiously.

"They exhausted all ten duct tape lines," Axle explained, "so the judge had to start making up weird positions for them to shoot in; Max and I dodged out by round eight, missed the second ring, both of us, on that same round. But you missed them shooting between the legs; that was my favorite. And they still made a bull's eye, incredible."

Inuyasha watched solemnly as Kagome hefted the pistol in her left hand; he vaguely recognized the gun as the one Sesshomaru had once given to Rin for added protection. They'd been about sixteen then, he remember, and his brother had been going out with Rin for a year and a half already. They'd been ruling together for...three years? It seemed like forever ago to Inuyasha, but he could still remember Sesshomaru presenting Rin with a shining black pistol, saying quietly, "_For when I'm not there_."

And as Kagome stood there, holding one of the most classically dangerous weapons known to man, Inuyasha couldn't remember seeing her looking more beautiful, even with yet more tears of their crumbling fight pricking her eyes. Sighing, he glanced down at his feet for a moment; he'd caused those tears. Max seemed to notice his distress for he gave the hanyou a gruff pat on the shoulder. "Ease up, mate."

At that point, Kagome felt a familiar presence behind her and she turned her head ever so slightly, catching a familiar flash of silver and amber, mixed with gleaming tan, in the corner of her eye. Inuyasha; she could feel him, his presence surrounding her, reminding her how close and yet how far away he was to her.

"One."

Inuyasha saw Kagome turn and he tried to smile for her, but found himself unable to create any semblance of happiness in his face. The scent of salt accosted his nose once more and he closed his eyes, persuading himself not to look at her as she stood there, gun upraised, looking so beautiful.

"Two."

_Don't think about him, girl, just don't think about him. You don't need him, you're a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a shit like Inuyasha to complete you...but if all that's true, why do I want him to be up here, holding me, right now? Why can't I make myself stop crying? _Tears were now streaming down Kagome's face, though no sob escaped her lips. Gan didn't have to turn to know Kagome was crying; readjusting his left hand grip on the pistol line, he cocked back the gun, feeling an overwhelming sadness smother him like a blanket dousing a flame.

"Mark."

Two shots exploded, leaving a trail of smoke from the old guns as their masters squeezed the triggers. Gan's eyes closed unconsciously after the shot; he could feel the bullet stretching out from him like a road, impacting the bulls eye with a hair's less precision than could be done with his right hand. Kagome, on the other hand could feel nothing. Nothing but loss, on two counts.

The mediator examined the bull's eyes with a tape measure and turned to the crowd, announcing, "We have a winner!"

There was complete and total silence from the crowd. Rechecking his assessment, the judge shouted, "By one fourth of a centimeter, the winner is..." Inuyasha closed his eyes and his breath caught in his throat; he hoped she won, he really did. But something in his gut already told him the truth.

"Gan the Gun of the Tokyo Sharks!"

The crowd erupted with applause and Gun opened his eyes, staring down at the concrete with little emotion resembling a winner. Kagome forced a smile and stuck out her hand, shaking with a likewise wooden Gan, whose violet eyes held a fraction of sympathy which touched what little of her heart Kagome could access. As the crowd rushed forward, congratulating Gan the Gun and collecting bets from one another, Kagome made as though to sneak off to the side, away from the suffocating mass of people. Frankly, she didn't want to see anyone right then.

"Kagome! Wait, Kagome!"

At the sound of Inuyasha's voice, Kagome turned on her heels and began walking rather quickly away from the crowd, ignoring shouts of congratulations and "you were amazing, better luck next time, babe." Words, colors, feelings, they were all a blur as Kagome broke into a slight stumbling run, tears streaming down her face; she was angry at the world. Angry at Inuyasha for being ignorant and stubborn and distracting her during the shooting competition, angry at the Wildcats, her own cousin, for ignoring her merit, angry at Naraku and his gang for causing trouble and blowing up Miroku's car, angry at her father for dying. She wasn't sure where her father had come into this, but while she was angry, she might as well include everyone responsible.

Inuyasha caught up with her easily, catching her before she fell to the ground, and wrapping his arms around her. Despite the fact that Inuyasha was at least one half of the reason she hated everyone and everything, Kagome couldn't help but feel a great relief as soon as that scent wrapped itself around her. Inuyasha sighed, smoothing her hair with his calloused hand and saying quietly, "You did your best, Kagome. You were great."

Still slightly enraged, Kagome pounded uselessly on his chest, crying, "You think this is about the stupid shooting contest?! This is about you, you stupid, stubborn, dumbass! _You _made me this way!"

Inuyasha felt another wave of guilt pass over him and he sighed. "I know. I was wrong, I should've known you were only trying to help Sesshomaru and I had no control over your actions. It was my fault and I promise to respect you from here on out."

Kagome stared at him unflinching for a moment, mouth agape and confused, until she shouted, "You idiot, you're not supposed to be nice! You're supposed to be a big, retarded loser and keep on yelling at me! Damnit, Inuyasha!"

Smiling roguishly, Inuyasha asked, "Does that mean you forgive me?"

"Fuck! Yes!" Kagome exclaimed, practically bursting into hysterical tears. She didn't pretend to understand this day and all its complexities. All she knew was that she could never be close enough to Inuyasha in that moment. Burying her head in his chest, she sniffled quietly as Inuyasha ran his fingers across her lower back, soothing her in a way that not even her own mother could.

After a moment, a feeling of daring boldness seized Inuyasha and he realized that Kagome was the only woman he needed. It wasn't Kikyo or Kikyo's memory that would sustain him, keep him going, make him feel alive. It was Kagome and only Kagome who could do that and he wouldn't let her get away again; deep down, he was still holding on to Kikyo, but they could deal with that when they came to it. Now was now and it was time.

Reaching down a hand, Inuyasha caught Kagome under the chin and tipped it slightly upwards, forcing her tear struck brown eyes to meet his amber ones. This done, he leaned down and captured her lips with his, the salty taste of tears lingering on her lips. Kagome fell easily into the kiss, like sinking into a hot bath after a moment's hesitation. A solitude surrounded them, a quiet and motionlessness unlike anything she'd ever experienced, and Kagome knew his lips on hers was the only real sensation of love she'd ever need. Sure, he was crass, rude, headstrong and stubborn, but none of this prevented him from approaching true perfection in Kagome's eyes. Inuyasha was her man and that was all that mattered.

"No way. That didn't just happen."

"Skull..."

"No, Bones, it didn't just happen. That little punk didn't just show us up."

"Skull..."

"NO, BONES, IT DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN!!"

Sighing, Benkan turned to Bankotsu, whose smirk still remained firmly set in place. "I do believe Skull is in some kind of intense denial, ay, mate?"

Jun sauntered quietly up to his competition, pocketing five hundred dollars with a small smile on his face. "Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen."

Bankotsu nodded his head in tacit approval, the only thing Jun ever really needed, and clapped a distraught Tobi on the shoulder. "Hey, not many can pull off the 1080 flip twist, Tobi. Hell, I didn't even think he could pull off a flat 1080, but to add that flip twist? Well done."

Ranbou walked forward, giving Jun a brief noogie before grinning and saying, "Nice, kid. Real nice."

"Thanks, Bo," Jun said quietly, looking away from the older wolf's gaze in slight embarrassment. Of everyone, the other wolf demons teased him the most and he dreaded facing them should he fail to redeem himself. But the approval of all his heroes was worth the approval of millions.

"See you guys later, I gotta go do somethin," Ranbou said vaguely, waving farewell before turning on his heels and stalking in the direction where Shitora had gone an hour before.

Bankotsu shook his head, unable to keep from laughing. "He's got it bad."

"Very bad," Benkan agreed.

"Very VERY bad," Tobi grinned.

"And he's in the dog house again," Jun finished, the four of them grinning endlessly and watching Ranbou's ponytail swishing ridiculously behind him, as it always did when he was in a foul mood.

Shitora was actually on the other side of the airport, sitting in a circle of lawn chairs with a few of the more intellectual gang members. At Race Wars, they often pulled up chairs and debated life's mysteries, tattooed and smoke-scented as they were. Shitora often felt enlightened and alive as she sat their discussing the origin of her own beginnings. Today, especially, was a good day for intelligent reasoning.

"The question of right and wrong lies in the eyes of the beholder and it always has. There are only a few specific wrongs that all men can agree on," a blonde Cobra said, taking a long draw on his cigarette.

"Agreed," chimed in a Jackrabbit, nodding his braided head serenely. "Every man can agree that something like child pornography is wrong and that ill fueled murder is too. But that's when questions like abortion and all that shit come in. And no three people can agree fully on them."

"Abortion," the blonde Cobra said with a chuckle. "I believe in the life of the child."

But the Jackrabbit looked thoroughly taken aback. "The _life _of the child? Imagine growing up the son of an unwed mother who sells herself to buy drugs, that's not a life. That's what many children would grow up in if abortion weren't there."

The two began to argue, but Shitora, often the mediator, said loudly, "I believe in circumstantial regard."

The two men quieted and glanced at her, obviously awaiting her continuation. "Circumstantial regard, the idea that each case is different to the next. If a mother is in a position such as the one you just described, she should get an abortion in the first trimester. If a mother feels she is "unready" for children but could support one if she needed to, in a household she would be comfortable in, she should go through the pregnancy and have the child. If she's ready then, she should take care of it, if not, give it up for adoption. If the mother is substantially ill, abort. If she doesn't like children, let it live and decide for yourself. Each case is different."

When Shitora finished, the others in the circle snapped their fingers as was tradition when a most intelligent comment was made. At this point, Shitora stood, silver hair falling about her as she crushed her deadened cigarette beneath her boot toe. "And with this I leave you."

There were assorted goodbyes and the blonde Cobra glanced up, saying, "Tora, you want me to take you to Bo or Yash or Shomo? You remember what they said about walkin' alone."

Shitora only snorted, amber eyes tinged with bitterness as she stretched her back like a cat. "Oh, I remember, Bogo, I just wish I didn't. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

Nodding, Bogo lifted a hand in goodbye and returned to the newly initiated conversation concerning the creation of the world. Shitora walked for a few minutes, making her way towards the other side of the airport, when she began wishing for another cigarette and reached into her pocket, removing one and lighting it with the lighter in her pocket. Just as she did so, a movement caught her eye and she blinked, glancing up to meet the blur. She saw nothing in the crowd, only gang members talking amongst themselves and a few selling wares in their booths. Sighing, Shitora continued walking, albeit a bit faster.

As she walked, Shitora felt a certain discomfort, though she dared not spare a glance behind her, and she continued on as though she sensed nothing. It wasn't until the hairs on the back of her neck froze erect that she recognized something amiss. Before she could even speak another word, a man stood in her path, a man whose face was horribly disfigured from what looked like a recent fight. She would never forget those eyes, eyes the color of blood.

Bokoru made no advance, but let the men behind him speak for his position. Shitora was surprised to see him alive, nevertheless with friends at Race Wars; she'd imagined that, if he were alive, he'd skipped town by this point. But no, there he stood in all his boldness, thick oxen arms crossed and scratched, torn face contorted with bitterness.

"So you really are fucking Ookami now," he bit out, obviously referring to the newly consummated relationship.

Shitora said nothing, finding herself curiously speechless in the face of a man whom she feared so deeply. Stumbling backwards, she made as though to run but lost her footing on a piece of gravel, falling to the concrete at a startling pace. Bokoru's companions, whose faces she didn't recognize, advanced steadily upon her from all sides, releasing their claws almost simultaneously. She gulped; all demons. She might've had a chance with one or two humans, a weak spot in the circle from which to escape, but there were none. And as much as she hated to admit it, she was only half demon and it would only carry her so far in a fight.

"At first, I was gonna go find your shit boyfriend and fuck him up for what he did to me. But then I realized the best way to fuck up a guy is to fuck up his girl. Or just plain fuck her," Bokoru said with a chilling conviction. "So one of those, if not both, is gonna happen. Right fucking now."

At these words, Bokoru's insane eyes began to widen and he made as though to lunge for Shitora, who felt quite prone as she lay there, frozen with fear for the second time in three days. Before Bokoru could reach her, however, a low growl interrupted his rage.

"Not wise."

Shitora's hopes began to lift as she turned, wondering if Ranbou had finally arrived to rescue her, though she found herself thoroughly surprised. The frightening man before her was, indeed, someone quite different from Ranbou.

Her savior's clawed hand rocketed forward, catching Bokoru around the throat with such a fierce intensity that a trail of blood spilled carelessly down the ox demon's chin. Crimson eyes met blood red and they lit like a gasoline aided fire, though one withered much quicker than its opponent. Bokoru began to tremble with his own fear as his assailant growled, a sound which rumbled in his gut and brought a chill to the surrounding summer air. "Touch her again. I dare you, boy."

Blubbering in quite a disgusting manner, Bokoru said something intelligible, eyes wide and sparkling with hypoxia. Finally, finding it not worth his time, Bokoru's captor released his pathetic quarry and grunted, "Run. Now."

Bokoru and his friends scattered like cockroaches at a footstep, scurrying off in every which direction with Bokoru traveling the fastest he'd ever flown by foot. As soon as the Cobra and his posse were gone, Shitora steadied her breathing slightly, trying to make herself seem fiercer than she felt. "Don't expect a thank you."

Ryuukoytsusei turned to face her, allowing his eyes to leave Bokoru's retreating back, and his crimson eyes seemed to give her a once over, as though checking for injuries. The action was quick and ever so slight, but Shitora caught it sure enough. Green hair fluttering out behind him, Ryuu reached down one massive, clawed hand to Shitora, who stared at it as though it held the plague.

"I wouldn't dare expect a thank you, Taisho," he said in his quiet snarl.

Shitora ignored Ryuu's outstretched hand and struggled to her feet, legs shaking so badly she could barely even stand. Nevertheless, she met his gaze and growled," I can take care of myself, thank you very freakin' much!"

Ryuu smirked. "Without your _chaperone, _whose to say you can, hm?"

Bristling, the silver haired hanyou spun on her feet, angry that other gangs had heard about South Tokyo's recently imposed rule. "Shut up, I'm not a pup fresh out, I can fight my own fights."

"Yes, you seemed to be handling that Cobra quite well," came Ryuu's sarcastic reply.

When she didn't answer for a moment, Ryuu made as though to take a step forward, but she finally hissed bitterly, "It's different with...him. I owe you one, Dragon."

And with that, Shitora walked stiffly and quickly in the other direction, hurrying towards the side of the airport where she'd seen Ranbou last; consequently, she'd already decided that Ranbou would never know about this incident. Ever.

Ryuu watched her go, feeling that strange feeling engulf him once more, and he briefly began to wonder if his former second in command's words were coming true. _"Someone once said, 'forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful they do not excite desire.' Just make sure your forbidden fruit doesn't come back to poison your guts, leader."_

Shaking his great emerald head, Ryuu lit a cigarette and took an angry drag, spewing out the smoke with such a force that it curled some feet in front of his face. Helping the Taisho girl was a one time thing and he'd done it spontaneously, just to enter a fight. As he walked, Ryuu repeated this reasoning like a mantra in his head, hoping he could convince himself fast enough to forget his forbidden pleasures. But he could already feel the poison consuming his flesh.

"Orion's belt."

"Where?"

"Right there. Follow my cigarette...see?"

"Ohh, yeah. And there's the big dipper."

"I think that's the little dipper, Sango."

"That's pretty fucking big for a _little_ dipper, don't you think?"

Miroku chuckled and adjusted his back muscled, which were sitting uncomfortably on a metal plate atop the RV. He and Sango, by use of the ladder, had climbed to the roof for some night stargazing, something which would be almost impossible in Tokyo; the bright lights of the city were beautiful, but nothing compared to nature's lights in the country. Sango smiled slightly, rubbing Miroku's stomach with the flat of her hand; he was almost like a toddler, the way he enjoyed stomach rubs.

"Kagome and Inuyasha made up," Sango said casually.

"Mmm, I know," Miroku chuckled around his cigarette. The smoke curled upwards like an uncoiled spring, dancing with the stars they'd set aside their time to watch. "I knew Inuyasha wouldn't hold out for long. He had to apologize sometime. In the same day."

It was Sango's turn to laugh. "Isn't that the truth. He's so weak for her, it's kinda cute."

"Cute is one word. Disgusting and hypocritical are others."

"Haha, you're so funny. But I heard she was crying and everything, right after the shooting contest. A lot of people who saw it said she cried _during _the contest, like it was already getting to her then. As soon as Inuyasha got there, the water works turned on," Sango continued, feeling to warmth of Miroku's chest through his muscle shirt.

Miroku's violet eyes reflected the stars as he furrowed his brow. "I heard about that shooting contest, it was the talk of the airport all afternoon. Some guy in the mechanics tent said Kagome and Gan shot bulls eyes for sixteen straight rounds. And even when she lost, Kagome was in the first ring of the target. I mean, I would expect that from Gan, but Kagome? It's...Kagome! I didn't even know she shot!"

Glancing away from Miroku, Sango pretended to focus on the stars as a feeling of guilt consumed her insides. She remembered quite clearly that night several weeks ago when Kagome had shot the girls away from a one night massacre at the Dragon's bar. They never had told the boys the whole truth.

"It wouldn't bother me if you knew something, Sango."

Jumping slightly at her boyfriend's voice, Sango glanced up at Miroku, though his gaze was focused primarily on the night sky. The profile his face caught against the night was quite breathtaking, but Sango was preoccupied with his words. How did he always know?

"It wasn't a big thing. She just helped us out once."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Miroku's mind began sifting through experiences and encounters in the past few months. He was a people person and remembered the way that people interacted with one another more than words of pictures. He remembered noticing a distinct change in the way the girls regarded Kagome soon after the incident some weeks ago. He knew the girls had ended up in a not so savvy bar, but he wasn't quite sure the specifics. None of the other boys were either, to his knowledge. But now several questions were raising surrounding the events of that night.

"She didn't shoot someone, did she?"

"No. More like shot as a wager to get us out of trouble."

"Oh. As long as it all ended up okay."

Sango smiled slightly, cuddling close to Miroku as he reached up a strong hand to run his fingers through her hair. She loved his faith in her and, frankly, in everything. Not many people in the gangs had much in anything anymore, after everything they'd seen and gone through, but Miroku was different. She doubted that he'd ever stop smiling.

A voice from below interrupted her thoughts. "Roku, you up there?"

"Yeah!" Miroku shouted back, not even bothering to sit up. "What's up?"

"The closing ceremonies start in ten, stupid, that's what's up!"

Miroku sighed glancing down at Sango with half hooded eyes. "What do you say, my queen? Do you want to weather the insufferable court at the evening ball?"

Chuckling, Sango sat up and stretched, replying, "Why my king, trying to get away from the banquet? Shameful. We must attend as reigning monarchs."

"If you insist, your majesty," Miroku said sardonically, lip curling comically. Sango laughed and offered Miroku a hand, leading him towards the ladder and practically dragging him down to earth. At the foot of the ladder, they could easily hear screaming, shuffling papers, and squeaking zippers inside the RVs; the ending ceremonies at Race Wars were always big amongst the gangs. Every gang would stand and make a presentation talking about their year's earnings and goings on in their precinct. It was almost like a happy little catching up amongst old friends, while simultaneously a good business presentation. The best presenters were guaranteed good deals and promising alliances for the next year.

Sango sighed. "Hold on, I have to go beautify myself."

Miroku grabbed her around the waist before she could hurry inside the RV, mumbling into her neck, "Oh, but Sango, you're always beautified."

"Flattery will get you no where, Houshi," Sango joked, giving him a quick peck on the lips before hurrying inside the RV.

The activity inside the girl's RV was almost maddening as Shitora, Ayame and Rin ran back and forth, grabbing for bras, panties and skirts with their jackets in hand. Kagome and Souten were playing a calm, quiet game of chess in the seating area, seeming almost oblivious to the goings on around them. Sango sighed and grabbed a bra off the ground, taking off her bikini top and hooking the bra behind her; no doubt there would be several drunk boys running around and going braless was hardly prudent.

"Check," Souten said quietly, earning a huff from Kagome.

"You're really good at chess, Souten," Kagome muttered.

As Sango walked over, picking up a leather corset from one of the chairs, she said conversationally, "So, Kagome, I heard you went out with a bang at the shooting competition today?"

"Hardy har har, bad pun," Kagome said sourly, screwing up her face. "I got second. I could've won if Inuyasha hadn't distracted me."

"I heard you were crying."

"Like I said, Inuyasha distracted me. Checkmate."

Rin ran past the table, screaming, "Gotta go, we're already ten minutes late!"

"What?!"

The girls hurried out the door, finding the boys tapping their feet impatiently outside. There was a slew of angrily exchanged words as the cores of the Wildcats, Fangs, Cobras and Reikons sprinted towards the large mechanics tent at the center of the airport. They could already hear applause as the announcer spoke from a microphone at the head and they muttered curses, hurrying themselves even more. Many of the girls struggled in their high heels, exchanging annoyed glances at the fast pace, though none of the boys seemed close to stopping.

"So what is this thing exactly?" Kagome asked between breaths.

"It's where all the gangs get together and brag and give awards; its kinda like the Oscars for us," Kouga explained.

"Oh...so why is it so bad that we're late? Can't we just sneak in the back?"

Inuyasha snorted, dropping back beside his girlfriend. "We could do that if we didn't have to present first. Since we were on top last year, we present first and the other gangs try to top us."

"That and Sesshomaru is hosting because we were on top last year," Rin reiterated, looking slightly worried.

"Oh."

As they neared the tent flap, they could hear the announcer say, "To begin, my own gangs of South Tokyo." By this time, it was obvious that Sesshomaru was behind the microphone. There were a few shouts and whistled as they applause started up again, rearing to an almost frightening height. "Again, the gangs of South Tokyo? All of you better be here."

"We're here, damnit," Ranbou said loudly, alerting Sesshomaru's attention as they processed inside, out of breath and irritated by their own lateness.

The cars and tools had been cleared out of the mechanics tent and gave way to at least one thousand chairs, making the entire area seem quite cavernous. Filled with cars, the tent hadn't appeared so enormous, though it seemed almost endless now. Kagome made as though to find a seat, but Rin grabbed her wrist and assured her, "Don't worry, you're as much a part of us as you'll ever be."

Kagome paused, not quite sure what to make of this comment, but there was no time to ponder between then and arriving at the stage, which was just a big platform with a microphone and a sadly scratched podium. As the Southern gang cores piled on the stage, joining the already present Sharks core, Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow and lowered the microphone, preparing to pass it off to Rin. "You couldn't have been on time for once?" he muttered, earning growls from many of his friends.

Rin nodded and took the microphone, putting a few papers on the podium. She addressed the crowd confidently. "Hey, I'm Rin Takeyama, leader of the South Tokyo Wildcats." There were several cat calls and whistles at this, to which Rin only smirked. "We grossed 1,000,023 yen this year. We worked on a total of 792 cars this year..."

Sango leaned over and said into the microphone," 793, I just fixed Razz's Mazarati 5 this afternoon," waving to Razz in the crowd.

"And 432 motorcycles," Rin continued, only to be interrupted by Ayame on her other side.

"460; thank you Jackrabbits for riding your bikes to steaming piles of shit," the redhead said with a wave, earning a hurrah and several glass clinks from the Jackrabbits and laughter from the rest of the room.

"And we grew by 45 members," Rin finished.

Kagome glanced down from the stage where a table of about ten people were writing furiously on pads of paper. She leaned over to Inuyasha, asking, "Who are those guys?"

"Secretaries from all the gangs, they're recording all the stats," he explained, glancing down at the table for a look himself.

Rin nodded to the crowd, showing that she was done, and applause broke out, with several whistles and increasingly drunken yells. Next, Bankotsu stepped forward, unfolding a piece of paper and grinning garrulously at the crowd. His braid seemed slightly neater than usual and, as Hiten and Jakotsu flanked him on either side, it was hard to tell who was related to whom.

"Hey guys, I'm Bankotsu Hayashi of the South Tokyo Cobras." Bankotsu was practically cut off by cheers from the Jackrabbits, who obviously found solace in their fellow trick riding gang. Bankotsu gave them a raised hand and then glanced down at his paper for reference. "We grossed 8,000,000 yen this year, roughly speaking. We won 27 major inner city trick competitions, _acquired_," he stressed the last word, giving the audience a meaningful glance and earning laughter; he was obviously referring to stolen items. "We _acquired _magically through our own personal merit and blessings from the great Buddha, 2390 car engines." The tent roared with approval, as many of them had "acquired" engines from the Cobras due to their magical blessings. "And we also succeeded in breaking our personal record set in 1997...we broke a total of 23 federal laws!"

This time, their was a standing ovation as Hiten, Jakotsu and Bankotsu pumped their fists in the air, drawing laughs from the other Southern Tokyo goers. Ranbou stepped up to the podium, neglecting to bring a piece of paper with him at all, though he seemed to know his stats quite well. "Yo, I'm Ranbou Ookami, leader of the South Tokyo Reikons, Assassination unit 1."

As Ranbou introduced the gang, Kagome leaned over to Inuyasha and asked confusedly, "Doesn't every gang give the same stats? Bankotsu's were different from Rin's. And what's assassination unit 1?"

"Each gang gives stats that pertain to them personally," Inuyasha explained patiently. "And the Reikons are one of 6 assassination gangs in Japan, but the first established. They're stats are gonna be a lot different than anyone else's.

"This year, we grossed 11,024,000 yen," Ranbou continued, smirking modestly at the crowd as they let out low whistles at the gross. "And fixed a total of 295 motorcycles. Now for our assassination stats." The room fell silent, as these stats were nothing to laugh or joke about. "We performed 15 assassinations by reason of danger of exposure to South Tokyo Gang private affairs, 24 assassinations by reason of crimes against South Tokyo Gangs, and 2 assassinations by reason of attempted rape and battery against our women. And we cut off a couple of dicks too, but those numbers aren't important."

At the sound of "rape" and "battery against women" several of the audience members booed to show their disapproval of such incidents. Shitora, however, was too preoccupied with her own personal thoughts to notice the crowd reaction; Ranbou had said "2" assassinations by reason of attempted rape and/or battery. She knew one of those was Kagai, the Dragon who'd seen fit to rough up Kagome at a race, but that only left Bokoru. Sesshomaru had filled her in on the known assassinations when she arrived a month or so ago and he hadn't mentioned another rape case, so did that mean Ranbou was mistaken? Did he think he'd murdered Bokoru that night? Shitora quickly decided that she couldn't tell him Bokoru was alive or he'd be on a man hunt for the ox demon's head. Besides that, Shitora didn't want him to worry; Ranbou had enough to worry about as it was.

Ranbou gave a nod of his head and there was a great rumble of applause throughout the tent, along with a few friendly shouts of his name; Ranbou was quite popular amongst the gangs. Lastly, Sesshomaru walked confidently up to the podium and the room fell silent with respect for their all-powerful leader. It was hard to speak of the way the gangs regarded Sesshomaru, what with his handsome, aristocratic air and practically flawless manners. He seemed almost out of the realm of mortal comprehension when it came to intelligence and his reasoning was impeccable. The only fault he had lay in pride, of course none of the men in the room would dare raise a finger about such a sin; everyone present was guilty of it.

"I am Sesshomaru Taisho, leader of the South Tokyo Fangs. This year, we grossed 21,000,054 yen. We won a total of 157 car races and 105 motorcycle races. We fixed 1095 cars and 1048 motorcycles. We grew by 10 members." It was well known that the Fangs were an elite bunch and you must be pretty special to win a seat in their court. The core members were practically thought of as untouchable. The crowd was silent, shaking their heads at the sheer immensity of the Fangs' stats, and the room made no sound for a few moments before someone began to clap and others soon followed, giving way to whistling, shouting and name cheering. Sesshomaru smiled and stepped back from the podium, allowing Akago to step forward with his index.

As soon as Akago approached the microphone, several people seemed confused; though the knowledge of the Sharks' move was well known, it hadn't reached all the outer lying areas. Akago continued fearlessly nonetheless. "I am Akago Tsume, leader of the South Tokyo Sharks. This year, we grossed 14,000,067 yen. We fixed 25 cars and 1069 motorcycles, and trafficked 8000 kilos of a substance I'm sure you're all familiar with." There were several chuckles throughout the room as pot smokers slapped hands with their friends, yelling out their appreciation for the finest weed this side of the equator. "We grew by 25 members, give or take."

Amidst the clapping, Sesshomaru stepped forward to the podium, face unreadable. "Next is North Tokyo."

As Naraku and his gangs walked stiffly yet smugly towards the front, the South Tokyo gangs filed down the stairs on the other side of the platform. The South Tokyo gangs took seats in the back of the room near the exits, lighting up cigarettes almost immediately and adding their smoke to the growing cloud. Inuyasha glanced around annoyedly, hating having to sit in one place for so long. Kagome glanced over and noticed his irritation, the twitchy manner with which he held himself, and reached for his hand, interlacing their fingers and rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb; her mother had always done that to comfort her. Inuyasha smiled slightly, white ears twitching as smoke tickled his fur, and Kagome stifled a giggle; she had to admit his ears were cute.

Despite Kagome's hand in his, Inuyasha couldn't shake the feeling that something besides this gathering needed his attention. Glancing around the room, his eyes danced across faces of familiar friends and old enemies, recognizing almost every person but failing to validate the dreading feeling in his gut. It was tugging him towards the exit, but he wasn't sure why. After a moment, he remembered the most recent event during which his instincts had pulled him away; the explosion of Miroku's car.

"Kagome."

Kagome glanced away from the stage at Inuyasha's whisper, locking eyes with his steady amber gaze. "What?"

"Will you go outside with me?"

"Why?"

Inuyasha looked fitfully towards the exit, wondering what could possible be so important that it pulled him at a time like this. "I don't know, I need to go outside. Please?"

After a moment, during which Kagome searched Inuyasha's eyes, she nodded and they stood quietly, making their way out the door to the notice of only a few friends. Rin furrowed her brow and turned to Sesshomaru, asking quietly, "Where are they going?"

"Where do you _think _they're going, Koi?"

Rin scowled at the typical male response, ignoring Sesshomaru's smirk, and glanced out the door in the direction from whence they'd gone. She clapped absentmindedly as North Tokyo finished their presentation, which was short and foul-tongued. South Tokyo was hardly worried about their Northern competitors since they now only had two working gangs. With the Sharks gone and the Vixens laying around waiting to give head, the Tarantulas and the Dragons were failing to pick up the slack; together, the gangs had only grossed 20,000,000 yen. Sesshomaru wondered airily how Naraku could even entertain the thought of owning and caring for Salter Street when he barely had enough money to maintain himself.

Outside, Inuyasha held Kagome's hand tightly as he glanced around the airport base, bathed in the black ink of night. The moon cast silver shadows over the tents, which flapped in the summer breeze, but nothing seemed out of place. His ears twitched, however, as he caught wind of a sound over his shoulder, back in the direction of the South Tokyo RVs. Placing a finger to his lips, Inuyasha glanced at Kagome and began leading her softly in the direction of the buses.

When they arrived, they stopped just short of the area and stood, slightly concealed behind a falling tent tarp. The wind blew directly on Inuyasha's face as he took in one familiar scent, a caustic leather, grease and tobacco combination; Mad Max. The other scent wasn't quite as familiar, though he'd smelled it a few times before. Blood, sweat and dirt: it was that of Bootleg, the leader of the Kyoto Scorpions. The Scorpions were like the Tarantulas of Tokyo, causing problems and just generally being a bad spirited lot. Max had joined when he was quite young, though most of his friends were Jackrabbits; it was always a wonder to Inuyasha how Max had ended up with such a seedy bunch of people.

Soon, voices became discernable on the wind. The first was Bootleg's hoarse snarl. "You mangy bastard, you're ruining the whole fucking thing! It was _you _who took off the bombs before!"

Kagome's eyes widened and she glanced over at Inuyasha, recognizing the mention of the car bombs. Inuyasha nodded, face almost as incredulous, and they listened intently to Max's casual reply. "Damn right I fucking did, mate. I don't know why you gotta take a fuckin' deal from that Tokyo smeghead just to make ends meet, Bootleg, that's not the way we used to work. I'm ashamed to call myself a Scorpion, know what I mean?"

Bootleg let out an irritated roar, startling Kagome as she latched on to Inuyasha's arm; she had no idea what this fellow looked like or even who he was. And what she could gather from his tone was nothing pleasant. "Make ends meet, you selfish asshole?! I'm keepin' you all the fuck alive with this deal! Besides, when the Fangs are on the way out, Naraku said that North Tokyo'll be the next one on top. Then we'll reap the benefits; that's why I'm leader and you ain't. I can look ahead!"

"What, an kill the Fangs in the process? Over my fucking dead body!" Max shouted, obviously angered by Bootleg's insinuation. Kagome had never heard him quite so serious and enraged, even through the week's trials and tribulations.

"You're outta the Scorpions, Max; you been a thorn in my side for weeks now, spittin' all this moral crap, and you're out! Good luck finding strong morals in our world, you crazy bastard!" Bootleg screamed, leaving the scene in a rush of chains and leather. As he came into view, Kagome wrinkled her nose; he was bald, crimson eyed and scarred in the face, wearing a full length leather coat with several chains adorning the fabric. She could see that Bootleg's choice wear was all black, which made his deathly pale face even more fearsome. Her hold must've tightened on Inuyasha's arm for he let out a small grunt, letting her know the danger had passed; due to the wind's direction, Bootleg had failed to catch their scent on the wind.

Inuyasha pulled Kagome out of hiding, insisting it was alright, and made his way carefully around the back of the RV; Max was sitting atop Sesshomaru's Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, staring up at the moon with a cigarette between his lips. "Evenin', chaps," he said dully.

Kagome glanced down at her feet, noticing a pile of recently deactivated bombs, about the size of her thumb and the shape of a cigarette lighter, lingering near a stack of tires. She shivered, looking away from the scene at the rows of parked cars and motorcycles before her, all of them belonging to friends and near family. If Max hadn't been there...she shuddered to think.

Inuyasha and Kagome clambered atop the Saleen and sat, Inuyasha between the two of them, staring at the moon as though it held secrets to their pasts and futures.

"Thanks, man," Inuyasha finally said, clapping Max on the shoulder.

Max gave a nod, managing a small grin as he slipped off his Scorpion jacket. "Never liked him anyway, know what I mean?"

The three were silent for a while before Kagome said quietly, "So he was the one sabotaging the cars."

"Guess he was, then," Max agreed, sighing deeply. "He and Naraku were always chums, guess that shoulda been my first fucking clue. Bootleg...he's got a way in the underworld around Kyoto, getting Naraku what he wants when he needs it. Has a few weapon hookups too; that ass knows more about machine guns than I do about bombs, it's fuckin' sick."

Inuyasha snorted. "He's creepy, that's for sure. And weird. God, I hate weird people."

"You're pretty weird, Inuyasha," Kagome commented, shrugging menially.

Max had a hearty laugh at this and Inuyasha just scowled, tapping Kagome lightly against the head, causing her to giggle. "Eh, pretty weird my ass." After a moment, when everyone had sobered, he asked, "So, what we gonna do about this?"

Shrugging, Max jumped down from the car and stretched his lithe limbs, moonlight catching off his cherry red mohawk and numerous piercings as he turned his gnarled face to address his companions. "If I were you, I'd tell Shomo and let him deal with it; it's his beef with Naraku. But that's just me."

"Alright, good idea, man," Inuyasha conceded, nodding as Max turned to leave. "Thanks again."

"If you could, you'd do it for us," was all Max said in reply, waving as he disappeared against the darkness of the night.

Inuyasha and Kagome didn't move for several moments, discounting linking hands for the second time, content to think blank thoughts and stare uselessly at the sky, hoping to forget about the troubles of the past few weeks. Kagome sighed. "What the hell is going on, Inuyasha? Naraku and now Bootleg, bombs, rapes, murders? What the hell is going on?"

Sighing, Inuyasha lifted his amber eyes to met those of the moon, reflecting the craters an caverns on its surface. "I don't know, Kagome. I don't know."

**Yeah, another chapter finished! I worked on this one mostly over Thanksgiving weekend because we went home to Tennessee and the only thing to do in a town with no internet and no Wal-Mart is to write. So I forced myself to do the dreaded chapter, filled with so much stuff that I was afraid I'd forget some of it. But I didn't!**

**Thanks to all the reviewers. I know that's lame and overused, but seriously, it makes me feel good about myself and the better KOLU feels, the more she writes, consequently. Or when I'm pissed, I turn out chapters like the one where Inuyasha went demon and Sess and Rin broke up. I got a D on my math test that week, angst.**

**So, your Texan dictionary for words you use that have western equivalents:**

**"Hell" morphs into "hey-all," phonetically.**

**"With you" becomes "witcha."**

**"On the" becomes "ona."**

**"Car" is "truck."**

**"Truck" is "the Ford," regardless of the make.**

**"George W. Bush" is "Dubya," or, in deeper parts of the state, "The Savior of our Free Nations."**

**"Soft drinks," are "Cokes," again, regardless of the make.**

**"Acorns" are "akerns," phonetically.**

**And my personally favorite, "gay" people are "ho-mo-SECKS-ualls" with a stress on the "secks," but in the country they're "queers."**

**That was your Texan dictionary. Donno why I put it in there, guess I felt giddy. Alright, Sorry for the long wait! Love!**

**KOLU **

**Thanks to Rae-Chan, who let me know that I was doing too much Ran/Tora; I do that when I fear writing another section because, hell, I made them up, I can make them do anything and its "in character." But the others...are hard. But I'm getting better! There's lot's of Inu/Kag in this chapter! Thanks Rae-Chan!**


	26. Help Me Father

**Okay guys, moving right along. I would like everyone to know that I know have a blog! That's right, I caved, I got a blog. Crazy shit, I know. It's at xanga, the most cliche blog site ever. This is the link, if you have to copy and past it in, so be it:**

** this blog, I'll talk about my angles, what I'm planning, what I'm writing about. It's really to let you guys know how I'm coming so your not totally pissed at me when its been two weeks and you're all "DUDE, WTF?" **

**I'm a nerd, I got a blog, stab me. I was always like, "BLOGGING IS LAME, GUYS," but now I've got one. **

**I kind of like it.**

**Anyway, on to the next chapter, a funny one. Savor this humor, everyone, because it won't last; the last chapters are brutally scary and painful. But we do love drama, don't we? ;)**

Bokoru spat thickly on the edge of the sidewalk, scowling at the concrete as a police siren echoed through the brick labrynths of Kyoto. It had been nearly a week since Race Wars and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so bitter. He wasn't a pleasant person most of the time, normally decrepit and wrathful, but he was even more intolerable as of late. He hadn't dared show his face back at Cobra headquarters, thinking Bankotsu must surely know of his near rape of Shitora Taisho by this time. Shitora Taisho, that worthless bitch; she'd caused his troubles. If only she'd just played nice and gone along with him, none of this would've happened; his nose would still be in one piece and he might have sight in his left eye, not to mention sexual satisfaction. But no, she had to go "independent woman" and ruin everything.

Glancing up at the nearby buildings, Bokoru blinked against the light; he hadn't angled his gaze upwards in quite some time. It couldn't be four in the afternoon, judging by the sun's position, and the ox demon gave a restless sigh; he preferred darkness to sunlight for a multitude of reasons, the foremost being danger. He lived for the thrill of danger and nothing seemed quite as dangerous in the light.

Just as he thought this, a presence nearly ten feet in front of him caught his attention, accompanied shortly by an unstable feeling of unsettling fear. Bokoru met eyes with a pair of bottomless crimson red pupils, which almost seemed to smile at him in all their vastness. The face was one he knew quite well, one that anyone in all the gangs could recognize in a heart skip; Naraku Onigumo was well known and feared, rightly so.

A cigarette dangled from Naraku's lips, which were settled in a decidedly blank line. The delicate beauty of his features was nearly lost, replaced by a hardness of bitter regret and life consuming hatred, hatred for a certain Fang leader who stood between him and greatness. Readjusting his shoulders in his Tarantulas jacket, Naraku stopped a mere meter from Bokoru, who was staring at the leader with a confusion in his dull eyes.

"I've smelled you before, ox," Naraku said bluntly, smoke curling up before his eyes, his eyes a murky crimson behind the veil.

Bokoru didn't know what to say for a moment until he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Yeah? When?"

"Race Wars, you might remember it," Naraku continued, chuckling without a smile or humor to be seen. "It was an insult to my nose. Dirt, sweat, sex and desire, about as arrousing as a dead hooker in a dumpster. But you were certainly excited, weren't you?"

For a moment, Bokoru's eyes flashed as though he were debating an attack, but the idea died quickly; no one was stupid enough to take on a few people in the gangs Naraku, Ryuu and most of the Fangs included in this group. Naraku obviously had a reason for stopping him on the street, for the chances of them simply meeting in the dingy slum of Kanu, which rivaled the size of Brooklyn and Queens combined, were hardly high. After a moment, Naraku allowed his cigarette to drop to the concrete, scattering ash before it died beneath the steel toe of his boot.

"You were with the Taisho girl, weren't you."

It was more of a statement than a question, but Bokoru gave a decidedly irate snarl. "And if I was?

"If you were," Naraku continued, staring levelly at Bokoru, "I doubt you got anywhere close to a fuck. Not with Ookami just around the corner, am I right?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talkin' about," Bokoru growled, barring his fangs in a fiersome display, black eyes gleaming like steaming puddles of oil.

But Naraku was hardly impressed and let out a soft snort. "I doubt you gave yourself that black eye, unless your a masochist, which you don't seem brave enough to be. And besides that, if you think I'll believe you're looking at me through one eye for fun, you're stupider than you look."

Smarting at the barb to his now sightless left eye, Bokoru barked snappily, "Get to the point, spider, I know you didn't stop me to shoot the shit."

"Temper, temper," replied Naraku boredly. "I stopped you out of the charity in my heart, so be grateful, because there's not much of it. We have the same goal, really."

"Oh?" Bokoru asked stiffly, obviously wanting nothign more than to escape the chilling presence of the almighty Northern leader. However tough he might like to act, Bokoru knew that, if Naraku began feeling slightly less "charitable," he could lose the sight in his other eye in a far more painful way that he had before.

"We both want to kill a leader in the South. I think you know who I mean," Naraku said quietly. By this time, he'd placed his clawed hands in his jacket pockets, where they rested like lumps of coal. The calm look in Naraku's crimson eyes should've been frightening, but Bokoru was too intrigued by his insinuation to notice.

Cocking an eyebrow, he murmured, "Ookami. Sure, I'd kill the bastard if I got the chance. But what about it?"

"I get what I want, you get what you want. You tell me everything you know about what's going on in the South, I offer you membership to the Tarantulas, we keep you underwraps until we have an opening. You take out Ookami, I take out Taisho, everybody wins. You understand, ox?" Naraku asked, adopting a business like tone.

Bokoru seemed to weigh his options for a moment before asking quietly, "What's the catch."

"No catch...yet. But if I decide there's a catch, what will you do about it?"

The ice cold venom in Naraku's tone struck Bokoru breathless and he paused for a moment, shaking his head as though to say he would do absolutely nothing. Nodding curtly, Naraku jerked his head in the direction of the Tarantulas hideout. "Come with me. Can't have my newly acquired traitor-spy wearing that piece of shit jacket."

For a moment, Bokoru lingered, wondering if selling his soul to the devil was worth getting Ranbou's neck between his hands. After only a minute's hesitation, he savored a sweet intake of breath, chest inflating heartily at the idea of Ranbou Ookami dying at his feet. Yes, the devil was worth the wait.

The sun beat down heavily in the pavement as drills and hammers sounded from within the Fang warehouse. Even though Race Wars was finally over, with the Fangs safely in the lead of course, it didn't mean their work was through. In fact, it had all begun in earnest once again, as Sesshomaru was determined to lead them to another victory in his final year as leader.

Gan fanned himself, wishing for all the world that he could take off his hat. Of course, this would lead to all sorts of problems far more devious that heat and it simply wasn't time. Glancing across the table at Akago, who was focused intently on the papers he was organizing, Gan wiped his hand across his forehead and glanced bitterly up at the ceiling. One day he would come out to Akago, tell him the truth, the horrible, gut wrenching truth. Just not now. He had time...right?

"Gan?"

Blinking, Gan focused his violet eyes on Akago's face, which seemed quizzical as he cleaned his spectacles with the hem of his shirt. "Hm?"

"Do you remember at Race Wars when you told me about your father betting you in a poker game?"

Indeed, Gan remembered well the first time he'd admitted half his reason for leaving home on the run. Nodding, he replied, "Of course. What of it?"

"Did you ever try to contact him afterwards? Your father, I mean."

The question stunned Gan, who replied airily, "Certainly not, I'll never talk to the man again, don't even know where he is. Why?"

Shaking his head mysteriously, Akago said quietly, "Nothing, just curious. I was thinking about it today and thought I'd ask."

Gan glanced down at the papers, as though unable to meet Akago's gaze, and wondered silently what could've brought such thoughts to Akago's head. There had been more to the story of Gan's past than he let on in the first place; he doubted normal people would be inclined to believe the other parts. Suffice it to say that his father wasn't above using his children to assist him in his "job" as a Yakuza technology engineer.

The very thought of his father's face made Gan physically ill and he stood quietly, giving a brief nod to Akago. "If you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care of in town. I'll be back around four."

"I'm sorry if I brought up something I should've have, Gan."

Yet Gan only shook his curtly. "No, _Toumoku, _it's fine."

And with this, the abnormally slender boy walked purposefully away from the table, making his way through the warehouse swiftly, dodging tools and mechanics alike on his way out the door. He arrived at his white 1969 Chevy Camaro, barely sparring the beautiful car a glance as he ducked inside and drove away with a screech of the tires. Akago watched his best friends of four years go in peace, still bristling at the word he'd used; _Toumouku. _

The word _Toumoku _was the way that all those but close friends and the core members addressed their gang leaders. It meant "leader" in Japanese, nothing offensive or subservient, but it was used by low rank. He couldn't understand why Gan, someone certainly entitled to use Akago's name, would resort to using a word of respect instead. Was it anger? Was it spite? He wasn't sure, but it didn't bode well in his stomach.

Sesshomaru, who'd been taking a break at the bar near the back, sipped his beer leisurely as he examined the expression on Akago's face. "Fascinating," was all he said.

Akago turned at the word, eyes decidedly far away. "What?"

"The way you two fight is fascinating. Anyone else in this room would've thrown wrenches around and raised their voices to five million decibals, but not you and Gan. You resorted to using underhanded verbal techniques to appear hurt by his lack of information and he, in turn, called you _Toumoku. _Fascinating."

Sesshomaru took a heavy seat beside Akago, who sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in a decidedly bitter manner. "How is it that after four years of close companionship, you can be thick as thieves with someone and still standing on two different continents?"

"I know not, Akago."

"GOD FUCKIN' DAMMIT!"

This outburst was immediately followed by the ear shattering clang of a tool hitting the concrete, obviously the product of one of Inuyasha's famous rage explosions. Both Akago and Sesshomaru turned boredly to face the noise, watching as Inuyasha hopped madly about with his fists clenched. The hanyou's eyes were squeezed shut as he shouted several curse words in ancient dog speak, some which elicited giggles from Shitora, but Kagome only rolled her eyes and continued searching for the 3mm wrench Sango had requested from the tool box.

"Why doesn't this piece o' shit ever WORK?!" Inuyasha screamed irately, pointing accusingly at his Lamborghini Diablo, which seemed to smile smugly through its dull red paint job, open hood almost like a laughing mouth.

Miroku walked over to the car, glancing down at its spaghetti parts with a calculative eye. "What's the problem this time, Yash?"

"Everything's the problem! The engine, the caruburetor, the fuel injection, the oil circulation, all of it! None of those things are fucking working and I can't fucking fix it!" He yelled in responsed.

By this time, the others had begun to wander over and they assembled around the open hood, staring down at it with vehement eyes; after all these years, they still couldn't amass enough knowledge to get the Lamborghini running and it was a blow to their pride. Kouga, forever reasonable, mentioned, "We've all had a go at this thing and still nothing. I dunno what to do to it anymore."

There were murmurs of agreement as Sesshomaru and Akago joined the group, exchanging glances with the others. Ayame said, "I mean, the thing's got a carburetor, for Kami's sake! I don't know a mechanic out there besides my dad who even knows what a carburetor does, they haven't used them for at least a decade and a half."

A brief silence came over the group as they all puzzled over the car before Bankotsu suggested, "Maybe you should call your old man up, Aya, have him come take a look at it."

Ayame shrugged. "Eh, he's great with caruburetors, but shod with engines."

"My dad's the engine specialist," Miroku said wryly. "Apparently that's all he did back in the day, he just sat there fixing engines."

"Our dad was the same," Ranbou interjected, speaking for himself and Kouga. "'Cept all he worked on was fuel systems. How boring is that shit? That's like one sixtieth of the car, the fuel system, and that's all he did."

Inuyasha growled apologetically, "Don't worry about it, all our old man can do anymore is change the oil in his fuckin' car. Lame shit. They're all ex-Fangs and they can't do shit with a car."

As the boys brooded over this fact, Kagome raised an eyebrow and said helpfully, "Well, why don't you just call up your dads? It sounds like they could fix the Diablo together."

Several humorless laughs met this insinuation and Ranbou turned with a sour smile on his face to address Kagome. "Nice try princess. Our dad's are Yakuza," he began, gesturing to himself and Miroku, "they're dad's an oil mogul," he continued, throwing a hand at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, "and her dad's got a business of his own that takes all the time he's got," he finished, glancing over at Ayame. "We never see our dads and we don't plan on it. Especially not in this warehouse."

"There's no harm in calling, right?" Kagome pressed, looking around at her skeptical friends.

Ayame rubbed the back of her head absently, replying, "Well, I could call him-"

"-so could I-"

"-and me-"

"-me too-"

"-but he wouldn't come," the sons and daughters finished lamely, looking almost sad by the fact.

"Just try!" Kagome urged, smiling encouragingly; Sango hid a smile as her friends unconciously tried to patch up family relationship in the Taishos, Ookamis, Saitous and Houshis. It was a very Kaogme-like urge and made her want to smile quite badly, but she knew the others would find this patronizing.

Sesshomaru glanced around at his frozen friends, who appeared almost terrified by the idea of calling their fathers, and he decided to start the trend; if the Lamborghini wasn't fixed soon, Inuyasha would be almost unbearable and the races would become harder and harder to win; the other gangs were constantly acquiring new cars while the Fangs simply relied on revamping their old ones. They'd been winning steadily thus far, but there was no telling how long they would survive without new meat on the track.

Whipping out his phone in a confident manner, Sesshomaru scrolled down his contact list and pulled up his father's cell phone number, dialing it promptly. The others watched him doing this in a sort of silent fascination, exchanging glances; was he actually calling his father?

"Dad? It's Sesshomaru."

Maybe he was.

Inutaisho was currently standing in the Tokyo airport waiting for his baggage to arrive at the claim belt. His handsome face contorted with a look of surprise as he heard his eldest son's voice on the line; was Sesshomaru actually calling of his own volition? Perhaps he'd been kidnapped and the vagrants were asking for a ransom.

"Sesshomaru? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, fine, nothing dangerous going on...now. I'm actually calling to enlist your expertise."

This _certainly _was not what Inutaisho expected from his son, or frankly, any of his children, for they were indeed an independent and private bunch of kids, bitter at their father for never being home and likewise bitter from their mothers' early deaths. They rarely spoke even when Inutaisho was in town, nevertheless when he was out on business. And now Sesshomaru wanted to "enlist his expertise?" Exactly where did his "expertise" lay?

"My expertise? What ones are those?"

"Oil expertise of the vehicular kind. Do you remember that Lamborghini Diablo Inuyasha acquired some years ago? We bought all those parts for it, tried to fix it from the ground up?"

Blinking, Inutaisho recalled the car. "Yes, I think I do. Still not running?"

"No, but getting closer. The oil circulation has a glitch that we can't seem to find and we were wondering if you wanted to come...help."

Silent for a moment, Inutaisho wondered briefly if his son was quite well. Now he was asking for help? Inutaisho had always expected the apocolypse to come after his death, not during his life. "Well, I suppose I could. I'm waiting to get my bags at the airport, just got back in town."

"You're kidding."

Inutaisho cocked one slender silver eyebrow. "I certainly am not. Why?"

But before Sesshomaru could answer the question, there was a great deal of talking and commotion on his end of the line and a few clicks as the phone obviously passed hands. Inutaisho's ear was then accosted by the harsh sound of Inuyasha's voice. "Old man, you're acutally in town? No shit!"

Inutaisho sighed. "Thanks, son. Yes, just got back. Having trouble with your car?"

"Not trouble, just problems."

"Right. Well, I'll head over as soon as I can."

"Really? Wow. Um, thanks dad."

"Not a problem Inuyasha. I'm actually flattered you're asking for my help, seeing as though you're more well versed in mechanics than I ever was. Not even Shitora could fix it?"

Inuyasha snorted. "She never offered to help. 'Sides, all she knows about is motorcycles."

Inutaisho could hear an outraged huff in the background noise, screaming something like "that's bullshit," before the phone passed hands yet again. This time Shitora came on the line, saying quickly, "I do not, I know plenty about cars, but I tried to give them my help! And it worked, they just wouldn't take it again!"

"Hello, Shitora. Settling in alright?"

"Fine. You're really coming?"

"Yes, I am. What about the rest of the car, then? All that working?"

"Ha, this piece of shit working? No way. Not even close."

Inutaisho snorted. "Oh, so the oil is only part of the problem." His luggage came around on the belt and he grabbed it deftly in one strong arm, lifting it as though it weighed nothing. The other passengers stared enviously at the man as they struggled to remove their bags from the belt, watching him as he hurried through the sliding doors, still talking on his cell phone.

"Part of the problem? More like one piece of the puzzle. I mean, this thing's so old that its still got a carburetor."

"Well, the only one who knows about that sort of thing is Taizen, have you called him yet?"

At the mention of Ayame's father, Shitora gave a short, barking laugh and replied, "We're about to. We're calling Ranbou and Kouga's dad for fuel systems and Miroku's dad for engines. It's like a dad party."

Inutaisho laughed as he hailed a cab and took the phone away from his mouth, saying, "4425 Osaki drive, please." After loading his luggage in the back of the taxi, Inutaisho stepped inside the back seat and continued his conversation. "Kibishii and Yamato, huh? I haven't talked to Yamato in years, but last I heard Kibi was off to America for business again. Of course, that's what he told me, but he always gives me tame information to ease my nerves."

Shitora laughed a little. "I'm pretty sure he's actually in America. Isn't he Bo? You're dad's in America, right?"

Ranbou shrugged. "He was supposed to get in yesterday, but I don't know where he is. So...no idea."

"He doesn't know," Shitora relayed to her father. "He was supposed to get in yesterday."

Inutaisho sighed and massaged his temples as he wondered where his best friend of thirty three years could possibly be. Though Kibishii tried his best to disguise the details from Inutaisho, word got around well enough exactly what the wolf assassin was up to. Inutaisho knew that Kibishii was a man of his word and, if he said he was supposed to arrive in town yesterday, he probably had. It was now only a question of where he was.

"Did he come home last night?"

"I'll check." Shitora placed one hand over the speaker and glanced over at Ranbou; the others were crowded around the phone, trying to hear what Inutaisho was saying, and the scene was rather comical, though no one dared laugh. "Bo, did your dad come home last night?"

Clearing his throat, Ranbou looked down at his crossed arms, seeming nervous. "I didn't go home last night, baby girl, I don't know."

There was a brief silence as Shitora realized he'd been carrying out an assassination the previous night. Of whom, she wasn't sure, but she was fairly used to the idea; she only wished he could've told her. Glancing over at Kouga, she asked, "Ko? Did he come home last night?"

"Well, I wasn't there either," Kouga said levelly, trying to hide his blush as Ayame likewise looked away from the searching glances of her friends.

Shitora snickered and uncovered the mouth piece. "Um, dad? They don't know."

"I see. Well, I'll get in touch with him and bring him with me, if that's alright."

"Yeah, that's fine," Shitora replied, furrowing her brow. Her father almost sounded worried about Kibishii, though she was unused to her father worrying about anything. Especially her and her brothers. "See you when you get here."

"Bye, baby."

Shitora hung up the phone and snorted, tossing it to Sesshomaru, who caught it deftly. "He called me baby. What right does he have to call me baby?"

"He's coming, right?" Inuyasha asked grumpily, changing the subject away from his father.

"Yeah, he's gonna grab Bo and Ko's dad on the way, too," Shitora replied, shaking away thoughts of Inutaisho.

Kouga let out a breath of relief. "I've gotta thank him some time."

Miroku sighed, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing his cell phone. "Well, guess I'm next."

"Me too," Ayame said with the same sort of defeated tone.

The two parted ways, walking away from the crowd unlike the Taisho children; their relationships with their fathers were too weird for them to live in the public eye, or so they felt. Miroku's father answered the phone on the first ring.

"Houshi."

"Dad, it's me."

"Oh, Miroku m'boy, what can I do for you?"

"Actually dad, we're having an engine problem at the shop and we wondered if you could help us out," Miroku replied, eyes reflecting a sort of longing his father couldn't see.

Yamato Houshi reclined back in his leather office chair, home after a long while away in France. "Me help _you? _I don't know, Roku, you're better with a car than I ever was."

"But you're better with engines."

Sighing, the Yakuza boss glanced at the nail on his thumb, sunlight streaming through the windows of his mansion office. "Hell, I guess I might as well. Might brush up my knowledge, who knows when you might need it, right?"

"Right," Miroku replied with a small smile; talking to his father was normally quite awkward and this time wasn't any different. His father was so smooth, Miroku constantly felt like Yamato was trying to coax him into a deal. It was just the way of a Yakuza boss, Miroku supposed, but that didn't make conversations any less of a trial.

"I'll come on down now, how's that?"

"Fine, dad. Thanks a lot."

"Anything for you, son."

And with that, one of the rare Houshi Father-Son talks came to a close and Miroku pocketed his phone, taking a deep breath. _That was relatively painless, _he thought, cocking his head to the side. _Of course, nothing's painless when it comes to my dad._

Ayame's relationship with her father was perhaps the best of her friends, seeing as though he was in town at all times. The only fault in their lives together lay in his constant adherence to work; with so many children to support, Taizen Saitou couldn't help but be away from home nearly 350 days a year. He came home on the odd holiday, but most of his time was spent at his self-owned mechanic shop in the heart of Tokyo, pulling in as much money as possible.

The phone rang three times before Taizen answered. The wolf demon was currently wiping his hands on a grease rag, face smudged with black and muscles glistening with sweat. "Yeah?"

"Dad, it's Ayame."

Taizen smiled brightly, fangs glowing. "Hey, Aya! What are you up to?"

"Not much," Ayame replied, grinning madly; she loved talking to her father and wished she could do so more often.

"Are you at work right now, _aikou?_" Taizen asked, using his immortal pet name for Ayame; _aikou, _the Japanese word for love, had always been his favorite word for his daughter.

"Yeah," Ayame said, twisting a long red curl around her finger. "Dad, I was just calling cause we're having trouble with Inuyasha's Lamborghini and its got a carburetor and we don't know what to do with the thing, its impossible to fix. Can you come help?"

Glancing around his busy shop, Taizen noted the number of workers and raised his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised. "Actually, _aikou, _I think I can probably do that. We're overstaffed today, somehow. I guess my guys felt guilt and decided to show up for work."

Ayame's grin widened, if that was possible. "Really?! Great! We're at the warehouse."

"Alright, I'll be right over."

Ayame hung up the phone and nearly jumped for joy; she hadn't seen her father for a few days and was anxious to talk to him. They talked about everything, odds and ends, philosophy, their ideas on politics, but it didn't matter what they talked about in the end. Just seeing her father made Ayame's day a little bit better.

"Well, my dad's in," she reported as she rejoined the group congregated around the Lamborghini.

"My dad too, surprisingly," Miroku agreed, arriving simultaneously.

Everyone looked mildly dazed, as though surprised that the fathers were convening on such a day, altogether, in the same place. Kagome smiled triumphantly as her plan came together; it looked as though the four ex-Fangs could set aside their schedules long enough to help their children, in any case.

Inuyasha sighed and retrieved the wrench he'd flung down in his anger several minutes before. "Guess I'll try to sort out my own shit until they get here."

The crowd began to disperse, quietly and slowly, until they'd returned to their work, beginning to chat idly in their stupor. Ranbou rubbed at his eyes, feeling a headache coming on as he wondered where his father could be. A slender hand on his bicep alerted him of Shitora's presence as she smiled up at him, amber eyes calm and cool.

"Worried about your old man?"

Ranbou snorted, replied obstinantly, "Of course not. That bastard can take care o' himself just fine."

Shitora wrapped her arms around his waist, grinning slyly. "Sure he can, but it doesn't stop you worrying, does it?"

The wolf demon sighed, tan face belying his inner stress. "Naw, I guess not."

"C'mon, let's go work on the Ducati; it didn't turn out at Race Wars like I thought it would," Shitora said, giving Ranbou an out; she knew he disliked talking about his feelings.

Returning her smile, Ranbou kissed the top of her silver head gratefully. "Good idea."

Inutaisho yawned widely, wishing momentarily that he'd gotten more sleep the night before; he'd been too busy negotiating terms with a rival CEO to think about his own wellbeing. His house smelled of garlic and stewing tomatoes as he hurried down the stairs, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He couldn't remember the last time he'd worn something other than a suit, but it felt nice to do so. Glancing inside the kitchen, he saw Kaede's back bent over the stove as she stirred her home made marinara sauce, obviously readying dinner for her hungry children.

"Good day, Inutaisho," she said without turning, voice laced with wise undertones. It seemed as though everything she said could be turned into a piece of advice and Inutaisho had always loved it, even when she'd been taking care of him as a child.

"Good day, Kaede. I'm going to help the kids with a car problem at the warehouse, but we should be home for supper."

Kaede turned, smiling pleasantly. "You should bring friends with you; I've got enough dinner for at least twenty. I'm clearing the cupboards of food, seeing as though hardly anyone actually eats here anymore."

"Twenty? Kami," Inutaisho mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly. Were they really home that little? "Well, I'll see what I can do. I'll call before we come so you know what to expect."

With this, he hurried out the door and Kaede smiled wryly. "I never know what to expect in this house, but thank you," she said somewhat to herself and somewhat to Inutaisho's retreating foosteps.

Inutaisho pulled open the garage, finding first that the spring was broken once again, and started the engine of his beautiful blue Lotus convertible, which hadn't been run in many a day. It hummed to life, giving Inutaisho that familiar warmth, before he backed out and started on the road to the Ookami house. The Taishos and the Ookamis had always been close and lived at a likewise small distance, but the most he heard from Kibishii these days was in their weekly thirty minutes phone calls. He couldn't be certain, but he was worried that Kibishii was deeper in the Yakuza than he should've been and that never boded well.

He arrived at Kibishii's house in five minutes time and observed the freshly cut grass; obviously, Kouga and Ranbou didn't let everything go totally to sod when their father was away. Inutaisho knocked sharply on the door, waiting for a sign of life from inside, but receiving none. A quick sniff proved that Kibishii had entered the house in the past twelve hours and the dog demon frowned, absently turning the knob of the door. The silver haired man jumped slightly as the door swung inwards, unlocked. With a suspicious look around, he crossed the threshold.

Sunlight flooded the house, though none of the inside lights were on; without the door blocking his way, Inutaisho could clearly smell traces of fresh blood and he grimaced. He hadn't smelt such a scent since his gang days. It was one of sweat, battle, blood and anger; somehow, it invigorated him.

"Kibi?" he called out, walking into the living room and searching around for his friend. "Kibishii, are you in here?"

Though no one answered, Inutaisho could hear ragged breathing coming from the bedroom and he furrowed his brow, pushing the slightly ajar door aside.

Kibishii lay on the bed, asleep on his back, not even under the sheets; there were several gashes on his chest, though none of them serious enough to warrant serious medical attention, and another on his cheek, crossing the bridge of his nose to his pointed ear. Inutaisho strode over to the bed, shaking his head mildly at the wolf demon's state.

"Kibi, wake up," he commanded, shaking the man's shoulder gently.

Groaning, Kibishii coughed and opened one crimson red eye, staring up at Inutaisho for a moment before recognizing his friend. His eyes were soon wide with surprise, eyebrows low over his gaze. "Taisho? What're you doin' here?"

"I came to find you on your sons' behalfs," Inutaisho replied wryly. "They didn't know where you were."

Kibishii snorted. "Only in my house sleeping. If they'd been home last night, they woulda known that. Those two are probably here less than me."

"They need help at the warehouse with Inuyasha's Diablo," Inutaisho said, obviously unimpressed by Kibishii's brief fatherly rant. "And what the hell happened to you?"

Kibishii sat up stiffly, rubbing his sore, naked chest with one clawed hand. "A stubborn ass who wouldn't die, that's what happened. But he's dead now." The wolf demon stretched and yawned animalistically, back arching like a cat, before he wandered lazily to the chest of drawers and put on a black wife beater with his jeans. "So they need help at the shop from little old me?"

"Little old us," Inutaisho corrected, watching his friend crack his knuckles routinely. Kibishii's tan, rugged face, marred by the cut, still looked the ripe age of twenty five, as did the rest of him. Inutaisho knew he too looked younger than he was, but all demons aged in such a manner. "They're great mechanics, but they're just kids."

"Maybe your kids are kids, but my kids are men," Kibishii replied, grinning broadly.

Inutaisho rolled his eyes, standing from the bed and pushing Kibishii out the foor in front of him. "That's your first mistake, Kibi, thinking they don't need you anymore."

Almost pouting, Kibishii whined slightly as Inutaisho pushed him bodily out the front door, closing it behind him. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Just get in the car, you lazy fuck," Inutaisho replied in a joking manner, shoving Kibishii playfully as the wolf demon grinned as well. It seemed that a long time away hadn't stilted their life long relationship like they supposed.

A silver Jaguar convertible pulled up in front of the warehouse, driving smoothly along the gravel, until the driver cut the engine. Yamato Houshi stepped boldly into the sun, sunglasses reflecting the awesome light which shone from the sky. He was a well built man in his mid thirties, black hair not even showing a trace silver. He kept it in a high ponytail which contrasted starkly with his porcelain white face, looks which he'd passed on to Miroku. His eyes were a shimmering green; Miroku's violet eyes were from his late mother.

Yamato locked his car and pocketed the keys, stretching boredly; he was glad to be away from his tiresome work. Being a tyrannical mob boss wasn't as easy as others made it out to be. It also felt strange to be in jeans again; hs still wore his typical white button down, short sleeved in the sweltering heat, but jeans felt quite strange on his legs. _I guess I really do work too much, _he thought to himself.

At this time, a red Toyota Carolla pulled up beside the Jaguar. Taizen Saitou opened the door and stood slowly, still a good six inches shorter than the tall, stately Yamato, and rolled his aching wrists; handling tools for a living could make a body sore. He was wearing a white wife beater with his mechanic's jumpsuit, which he'd half shed in the heat of the day; the arms were now tied around his waist. He had Ayame's startling green eyes and red hair, which he kept in a low ponytail with fringe hanging over his eyes. He was smudged with grease in several places, bulging biceps and shoulders especially dirty, but he seemed not to care; Taizen was always pleasant.

Yamato smiled slightly. "Taizen, fancy meeting you here."

"Yamato!" Taizen exclaimed, grinning in his pleasant way. "Where have you been all this time, my friend?"

"Doing business," was Yamato's mysterious reply. "I must admit, it's been a while since I wore jeans."

Taizen laughed. "Coincidentally, it's been a while since I wore a suit."

Just as he said this, a blue Lotus came roaring up the road, turning in to the gravel parking area at a quick run. When it came to a halt, two figures stepped out of the car, both impressive in the sunlight. Inutaisho removed his sunglasses and sized up the warehouse, as though looking for recent changes, and Kibishii yawned, scratching at his stomach as though he'd just woken up.

"Well if it isn't Inutaisho," Taizen said jovially, leaning on his car top as he smiled at his friend. "And look what the cat dragged in: Kibishii!"

"Ha fucking ha," came Kibishii's bitter snort.

"Long night?" Yamato asked, addressing his personal assassin with an air of amusement.

Kibishii smiled sarcastically, replying, "Longer than I expected, _your highness._"

"Smartass," Yamato joked, giving Kibishii a grin before turning his own gaze to the warehouse. "Let's do this, boys."

The men walked towards the warehouse together, revelling in each other's company for the first time in years. As they neared the garage, they could make out the sounds of their children working, arguing and going about their business, mixing with the familiar squeal of drills and grind of wrenches. The smell of oil held with it a certain familiarity that warmed their hearts and Inutaisho smiled; finally he was at peace.

"Dammit, wolf, can't you keep your hands off my sister long enough to hold the fucking clamp?!"

The fathers raised their eyebrows and watched as Inuyasha, oblivious to their presence addressed Ranbou with a rageful eye. Ranbou snorted, looming over Inuyasha with his superior height, taller by a good three inches. "I don't wanna hold the fucking clamp, get Kouga to do it."

"I don't wanna do it either, I'm busy," Kouga called, muttering a curse as an oil pocket exploded and covered his right arm in black, slimy liquid.

"Miroku, hold the clamp," Inuyasha ordered, throwing his gaze to his best friend, who was working blithely away under the hood of a Spider Eclipse, recently acquired to replace his old one.

Miroku shook his head. "Not me man, I'm working on a flex plate."

"Someone hold the fucking clamp!" Inuyasha roared, ears twitching madly as his maked chest muscles bulged angrily; he seemed to consistently flex his muscles when in a bad mood.

"I'll hold the fucking clamp!" Shitora screamed, irritated by her brother's increasingly difficult attitude. "God, it's hot!" With this, she ripped off her red wifebeater, literally tearing the thing in two; obviously, the Taisho rage was shared.

Ranbou scowled, roaring, "Oh ya, sure, take all your clothes off, Sukini, throw your boobs around for everyone to see! Great way to manage your anger! Now I'm not gonna be able to concetrate at all!"

"Well, if you'd just held the clamp in the first place-" Inuyasha began, only to be cut off by Shitora.

"Shut up, Inuyasha. Ranbou, we've talked about this. Learn to share me with everyone else, or I'll stick this rear axle beam up your ASS!" The hanyou girl screamed, smacking Ranbou across the chest.

"Hey! I do share you, I'm sharin' you now, look at all these people!" Ranbou argued, throwing his arm across to indicate his crowd of friends.

"Oh yeah, two of them are my brothers and the rest of them might as well be!" Shitora shouted, crossing her arms angrily under her breasts; this only succeeded in pushing them up farther, causing Ranbou's mouth to go dry.

"Let her do what she wants, Ranbou, quite ordering her around," Kouga said, rolling his eyes at his brother's stubborness.

"Thank you!" Shitora exclaimed.

"You stay outta this,you fuckin' asshole!" Ranbou screamed in his brother's direction, the heat taking its toll on his tired body.

In response to this, Kouga merely swung his arm in Ranbou's direction, splattering him with the oil from his arm. Ranbou let out an outraged yell as Shitora burst out laughing and Inuyasha called again, "Hello? The clamp?!"

"I'll hold the clamp Inuyasha, where do you need it," Kagome said peaceably, smiling at her boyfriend in her kind way.

With that one smile, Inuyasha felt his anger begin to slowly drain from his finger tips and he sighed, managing his own small smile. "Thanks babe. Here, right there, hold it steady."

"Sonofabitch!" Ranbou continued, wiping oil from his face.

"Yeah, you deserved it," Kouga snarled, normally passive but abnormally roused by his brother's angry words.

Ayame hurried up behind him, taking him by the bicep of his clean arm. "Kouga, c'mon, don't do something you'll regret, go back to work."

Kouga nodded, giving Ranbou one last angry glance before returning to his work on the car. Ranbou, however, didn't seem ready to let the fight go. He made as though to charge after his brother, only to find himself sprawled across the ground by someone's well placed trip. Sesshomaru snorted, ignoring the slight ache in his foot from tripping Ranbou. "Shut up and stop making trouble, _baka yaro._"

"Shut up, Sesshomaru!" Ranbou shouted, hurrying to his feet, obviously in a blind rage. "I'll do whatever I fuckin' want! Don't act like you're above me!"

"Don't act like you're below me," Sesshomaru returned curtly. "And act your age while you're at it."

"Well keep your sister in her clothes!" Ranbou shot back, pointing to Shitora, who was in her leather pants and black bra, just like most of the girls in the warehouse.

At her name, Shitora looked up and scowled, screaming, "Oh my god, look at my boobs! Everyone look! I'm flaunting myself and acting like a slut!" With this she began jumping up and down, causing her breasts to bounce with her movement, and shook her chest wildly. "I'm such a whore, everyone look!"

Inutaisho's eyes were roughly the size of dinner plates and Kibishii had since covered his eyes with his right hand, both of them wondering what had become of their children in their absence. Yamato exchanged glances with Taizen, who looked decidedly amused by the goings on.

"Reminds me of us back in the day," Taizen said fondly, slipping into old memories.

"How true," Yamato agreed, grinning at Inutaisho and Kibishii's expressions. "They've just forgotten how like their children they were."

At this point, Sesshomaru glanced out at the parking lot, taking in the three parked cars and moving his gaze to inspect the four men standing before the warehouse, observing the goings on from a distance. The Fang leader showed no signs of embarassment, only the slightest twitch of his nose, before he called, "Come on in."

The motion in the warehouse seemed to stop as the others turned quickly at these words, taking in the sight of the four fathers standing in the gravel. Shitora's bouncing dance stopped rather abruptly, followed quickly by the crimson blush of her cheeks, and Ranbou's anger subsided almost instantly as he stared, eyes wide and mouth agape, at his father.

The four men walked the rest of the distance to the warehouse, crossing onto the concrete and joining Sesshomaru near Inuyasha's car. The others still watched with wide eyes as the ex-Fangs glanced around the warehouse, seeming more intrigued than anything.

Inutaisho glanced down at Shitora, raising one eyebrow in his scrutiny. "Hi, Shitora. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

The girl had since covered her face with her hands and she finally replied, "Guess you could say that."

Kibishii also turned to Ranbou, saying sardonically, "An' I got to watch you pickin' a fight with your brother, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Shitora at the same time. That takes talent, son."

The boy cleared his throat, ice blue eyes reflecting his embarassment. "Uh, yeah. Hey dad."

This awkward moment was cut off as Ayame exclaimed, "Daddy!" and came running at Taizen, leaping into his outstretched arms as he laughed joyfully. "_Aikou! _How are you, baby?"

"I'm great!" she replied, grinning widely.

This interraction broke the ice and Yamato chuckled. "At least someone's a little glad to see their father."

"Hey, old man, I'm glad to see you, I'm just covered in shit," Miroku said jokingly as he walked over, indeed smudged with a good amount of grease. "Flex plates."

Yamato ruffled Miroku's hair fondly, booming laugh echoing throughout the warehouse. "I know how it is, son. Good to see you."

"Hey dad," Kouga said tiredly, managing a smile as he lumbered over, arm still covered in oil.

Kibishii chuckled, giving his youngest son a hearty pat on the back. "Hey boy. What's that you're workin' on over there?"

"A Civic with a transmission problem, it's hell," Kouga replied, rolling his eyes as recalled the numerous issues surrounding Suikotsu's infamous yellow Honda Civic.

"I bet it is," Kibishii said conversationally, managing a smile as he turned his attention to Ranbou. "Ah, lighten up kid, it's a hot day. Just quit bein' a dick head."

Ranbou nodded, quirking a smile in his father's direction; the two were quite a bit alike and his father normally understood his strange actions more than anyone else; too bad he wasn't home enough to help. "Yeah, I will."

"Right then," Inutaisho said, clapping his hands together strongly. "How about this car?"

Inuyasha snapped out of his trance and stuttered, "R-right, yeah. Okay, so the engine is at a mark of...um..."

"2.0," Kagome filled in for him, coming up behind him and giving him a discreet but encouraging back rub.

Just her touch reminded Inuyasha how confident he was and he continued, "Right, 2.0. The fuel injection's a mess, the bearings are gone, the oil won't circulate and the screws are...um...-"

"-3mm right now, but we tried a 2mm on the intake and the valve runs smoother, so we were thinking a 2mm on the rods," Kagome continued, realizing that Inuyasha's words were failing him.

Inutaisho, who had been examining the car's insides as Inuyasha talked, glanced up when Kagome began to speak. He observed the girl for a moment before smiling and reaching out a hand. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Inutaisho, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Shitora's father."

"Nice to meet you sir, I'm Kagome Higurashi-"

"-my girlfriend," Inuyasha interrupted, smiling at Kagome as she shook hands with his father. Inutaisho recognized the look in Inuyasha's eye almost instantly and he smiled to himself, nodding at the two.

"A beautiful woman with brains to match, Inuyasha," he said approvingly. "While I'm at it, Sesshomaru, are you still going out with Rin?"

Sesshomaru smiled slightly. "Of course."

"Mhmm," Inutaisho mused. "And you, Shitora? Do you have some ridiculously meat-headed and large, frightening boyfriend for me to meet?"

Shitora snorted, crossing her arms angrily across her chest as she scowled. "Yes."

Inutaisho blinked, turning his full attention to his only daughter as she gestured boredly to Ranbou, who was standing blithely beside his father. When Inutaisho turned his stunned gaze upon the eldest Ookami boy, he couldn't help but feel slightly cheated; and here he thought Shitora hated that boy. Of course, by the way they were arguing before, he could hardly doubt it. Ranbou glanced over at Shitora, who met his gaze fearlessly, and Kibishii raised his eyebrows; he knew that look just as Inutaisho did, Kibishii more so than his friend. While the wolf and his wife had led a tumultuous relationship, they'd still loved each other deeply. It was a wonder her death hadn't killed him too.

"Sir," Ranbou said with a nod, reaching out a hand to shake Inutaisho's.

But the silver haired man only laughed, throwing his arms open wide and taking Ranbou in a manly hug. "Come now, Ranbou, I put training wheels on your bicycle; don't call me 'sir.'"

Ranbou breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Inutaisho, grateful for such a warm showing. Shitora, during all of this, had turned to Kibishii, who gave her one of the famous Ookami grins. "You're a saint, Tora, a fucking saint. How you put up with my stupid son I'll never know."

"Hey!" Ranbou said indignantly, crossing his strong arms over his chest.

But Kibishii paid his son's indignation no mind, only slapping him heartily on the back as the men returned their attention to the car.

Yamato glanced at the engine, sizing up a few things before he murmured, "I can fix that, it's just going to take a few hundred dollars. Can't you just replace it?"

"No," Inuyasha said quickly. "I want that engine."

Shrugging, Yamato repeated, "Well, yeah, I can fix that."

"That carburetor was installed wrong, ladies and gentlemen," Taizen announced, running his hand over the part. "It's backwards."

Inuyasha flat palmed his forehead, wondering why headaches always seemed to accompany this vehicle. "Backwards. Right."

"But that's not all. That rod is cracked and those distributors are...well, distributed wrong."

"And..." Kibishii began, leaning inside the open hood, "the fuel system is the wrong year to support the injection tubes. Those parts don't have the right consistency to work together."

"Why not?" Kouga asked confusedly. "I installed those months ago and they fit fine."

"Well, sure they fit, Ko, it's just that their slopes have a single millimeter's difference. It causes your fuel to run at a different angle, meaning differences everywhere, you get me?" Kibishii explained, speaking seriously with his son.

"We had the same problem with a lot of our cars back in the early eighties," Inutaisho explained, "back when they change the standards, the bodies and the measurements. It's all about consistency, guys, remember that. And the oil system..." the dog demon continued, leaning inside the car as Kibishii had done. He was silent for a minute and finally leaned out, saying, "That oil system wasn't made for this car, was it?"

Miroku shrugged. "I had to put it together from scratch, it wasn't a good cash time."

"Well, I commend you Miroku, it's a fine oil system, just not for this car. You should save it for later use," Inutaisho said with a smile. "You kids got farther on this car than we ever would have."

The other men nodded their agreement, looking pleasantly surprised by the Lamborghini's advanced state. "I can have the carburetor fixed in a few hours," Taizen announced.

"And that engine shouldn't take me two hours," Yamato reported.

Kibishii said, "That fuel system oughta be ready in an hour."

"And the oil system is going to take a bit of work," Inutaisho said with a decidedly concetrated look on his face. "I'll have to build a new one."

"A new one?" Inuyasha asked, dismayed. "Man, this fucking sucks!"

"No, what would've fucking sucked would've been not ever fixing it," Kouga replied, feeling suddenly at ease now that he knew what was wrong with the Lamborghini. As a mechanic, it had always nagged him at the back of his mind, not knowing what the matter was. But now he felt a calm wash over him, letting his nerves go. It was positively liberating.

"Can't argue with that," Inuyasha agreed, rubbing the back of his head absent mindedly.

"Alright, we're going to get started," Yamato said, smiling at the surrounding gang members. "Just give us a tool box and take a break; you guys deserve it."

Glancing around at one another, the gang members exchanged glances before looking unconciously towards their leaders for permission to take a break. Inutaisho hid a smile and nudged Kibishii, who nodded with a smile of his own; they remembered gang members looking to them for approval. Ranbou shrugged and said to the present Reikons, "Take a break, have a beer or somethin'."

Rin nodded to the Wildcats, "All of you can break."

"Sure, go on," Bankotsu said, grinning.

Sesshomaru, however, seemed to consider the matter for a moment before he addressed the Fangs. "Keep working, you four. We have orders to finish."

Though the other Fangs gave silent groans, they nodded and did as they were told. Sesshomaru was their leader and they respected his authority to such a point; if he said keep working, they would work until their fingers bled. The fathers seemed unalarmed by Sesshomaru's order and only returned to their work, grabbing tools and looking around for the necessary parts. In a moment's time, they were lost in their work.

Kagome took a sip of her Corona and sighed, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. It was certainly a hot day, though Tokyo summers were always this way. Rin perched her rear end on the edge of the filing table and removed her wifebeater, tossing it carelessly over her shoulder where it landed on a few tax files.

"This summer went by fast," she commented dryly, licking her lips as she took a sip from her own beer.

Kagome snorted. "I can't tell what happened exactly, but I've never had a summer this exciting in my life."

"I bet not," Rin joked. "You were boring back in the day."

"Gee, thanks," came Kagome's sarcastic reply. "Though I can't argue, I guess. But who could really stay boring around here? Honestly! I think you could put a bunch of boring computer geeks in this warehouse, give them a wrench, and turn them into...well, them," she said, gesturing towards the busily working fathers with her beer. "I know this is kinda sick, since he's my boyfriends father and they're my friends fathers, but they're really hot."

Rin nodded blissfully, never removing her eyes from the obliviously toiling men. "Amen to that. At least we know all of the guys will age well, ne?"

"Couldn't agree more."

At this point, Kibishii grumbled something about the heat and removed his wifebeater, tucking it half in and half out of his jean pocket. Kagome and Rin sighed simultaneously as the men began peeling their shirts off, mumbling agreements with Kibishii as they continued their work on the Diablo.

"Dude, are you checking out my dad?"

Both girls jumped slightly as Ranbou joined them on the table, eyebrow raised questioningly. Before Rin could say a word, Kagome replied easily, "Absolutely. Who isn't?"

Ranbou took this opporunity to glance over at Ayame and Sango, who were silently sitting in the couch area drinking beers, watching the four fathers' every movement. Ranbou rolled his eyes and said plantively, "They only look like that cause they don't age like humans."

"Miroku's dad does," Rin pointed out.

"Yeah, well he was barely just a kid when he had Miroku. He ain't even 40 yet."

"How old was he?" Kagome asked curiously, turning her attention to Ranbou.

The Reikon leader shrugged, absently unsticking his ponytail from the sweat on his neck. "Eh, maybe 16, 17. That'd barely make him 35 anyways."

"17?!" Kagome gasped, brown eyes wide.

Rin nodded affirmatively. "Yamato met his wife, Kogane, when they were kids in the gang. They went out for like three years before having Miroku and even then, they stayed in the gang. My dad told me that everyone knew they'd make it, even though Yamato was kinda angry and stubborn. Kogane was the most beautiful girl in the Wildcats and she always kept Yamato in check. It's really a romantic story when you tell it full out, but my dad doesn't like to talk about it anymore."

"Why not?" Kagome asked, brow furrowing cutely. Ranbou's face changed with a ghost of a smile; no wonder Inuyasha fell for a girl like Kagome. The simplest movement from her was fascinating.

Rin averted her gaze slightly, managing to raise it towards Yamato as he wrenched tirelessly away at a screw, eyes blank with focus. "Because Kogane was killed when Miroku was only eight. I still remember it, going to her funeral and everything."

"Killed?" Kaogme whispered breathlessly, heart almost breaking in two. "Poor Miroku. How did it happen?"

Ranbou sighed, saying gruffly, "Mistaken identity murder. Some Yakuza hitmen were looking for the wife of a rival to kill and they looked a lot alike; they shot her with a semi-automatic in the head about twenty times."

Kagome found herself physically unable to close her mouth as she sat there digesting this information, unable to even fathom losing a parents in such a manner. Shot in the head? "But I thought Miroku's father was Yakuza."

"He wasn't back then; he got into all of it trying to get revenge on Kogane's murderers. And he did. They were found one month later, dismembered in a back alley downtown," Rin said, voice devoid of emotion; she'd obviously blocked the outlet from her head to her heart when it came to the horrific event.

Kagome swallowed with slight difficulty. "Miroku's dad...cut them apart?"

"No," Ranbou interrupted quietly. "_My_ dad cut them apart."

Kagome turned to observe Ranbou, who was sitting with his legs hanging over the edge of the table, eyes angled downwards at the stained concrete. He had an almost unreadable look on his face, one which guarded his true feelings on the matter; he seemed to be genuinely unfeeling towards it, though Kagome knew Ranbou better. He had an opinion on everything and this couldn't possibly be any different.

"So, they were friends? Your dad and Miroku's dad?"

"Yeah," Ranbou replied, lighting a new cigarette off the end of his old one with a sigh. "They were friends during their gang days and so were their wives, so they helped each other out. Or at least that's kinda how it work out."

Kagome decided that, based on Ranbou's tone, this portion of the conversation was closed and he wished to discuss it no further. She took the discussion in a different direction. "So, were they all leaders or what?"

"Well," Rin began, glancing at the fathers as they worked, "Inutaisho was leader of the Fangs and Kibishii was leader of the Reikons; they were best friends since birth. Then Yamato was Inutaisho's second and Taizen was part of the Fang core. They were pretty unstoppable back in their day, or so Kei told us."

"Was Kei there?" Kagome asked incredulously; Kei hardly looked that old.

"Yeah, he was young, though," Ranbou replied. "He was appointed by Inutaisho as the next leader and Nanashi was appointed by Izayoi."

The name sounded familiar, though Kagome couldn't quite place it. "Izayoi?"

"Inuyasha and Shitora's mother. She was one tough woman, but she died when Shitora was only two or three, I think," Ranbou said with a sigh. "I don't really remember her. All I know is that she was the best leader the Wildcats ever saw, right Rin?"

"That's what I can tell from the records," Rin conceeded, smiling fondly at the vague memory of Inuyasha's mother. "Sesshomaru never talks about her, but he's got a hinged picture frame in his room with his mother's picture and Izayoi's side by side. I think he thought of them both as his mother."

"Wait...so Inuyasha's dad must've remarried really fast, right? Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are, like, super close in age," Kagome said confusedly.

At this point, Ranbou and Rin exchanged glances. "Well, um, that's a different part of the story," Rin said nervously, pushing her fingertips distractedly together.

But before she could bring the conversation to a close, a familiar voice said cooly from behind her, "We're not just super close in age, we're exactly four months apart."

Sesshomaru smiled moderately when Rin jumped, emitting a small shriek of surprise. Placing one hand gingerly over her heart, she gasped, wide eyed, "Sesshomaru, you freaked me the fuck out! Don't do that!"

The Fang leader let out a low chuckle and leaned down, placing a kiss on the top of Rin's still shaking head. "Sorry baby, you know I don't mean to." The man turned his attention to Kagome, who seemed interested in his previous statement; one month apart?

"But if you're one month apart, that means-"

"That my father was sleeping around," Sesshomaru finished, raising one slender eyebrow. "And that is, in fact, not the whole story. My blood mother, Koorisumairu, was in love with my father, but he wouldn't pay her any attention; he was too in love with Izayoi. But my mother would stop at nothing and she used her demonic powers to her advantage; she was a shapeshifter and had the ability to change her appearance to mimic another person. So one night, she disguised herself as Izayoi and seduced my father. All this time he'd been going out with Izayoi and the fact that he'd impregnated another woman devestated him, but Izayoi was a gracious woman and forgave him. They were married on the 14th of January and Inuyasha was born nine months later in September of that year, four months after me."

The dog demon let out a breath and took a seat on the table top, bare chest glistening with a fine layer of sweat. As he sat there, elbows balanced on his knees and a cigarette drooping from his lips, Kagome couldn't help but wonder what he really felt about the situation surrounding his birth. If what Rin said was true, that he had the hinged picture frame of both his "mothers" in his bedroom, did that mean that he loved them both, even the deceitful Koorisumairu?

"Where is your mother now?" Kagome asked tentatively; her insatiable curiosity could not be quenched.

Sesshomaru smiled mildly. "Probably shacking up with a movie star in Hollywood. She moved to California after I was born, leaving me with my father and Izayoi to raise. Father says that my mother and Izayoi reconciled their differences before she left, but I have to wonder if even Izayoi could forgive someone for something like that."

"My mom told me about Koorisumairu before she died," Ranbou mentioned off handedly. "She was part of the Wildcat core, wasn't she Shomo?"

Sesshomaru nodded, reaching back to braid his silken white hair in attempts to keep cool. "She was part of the core under Izayoi, as was Miroku's mother Kogane and Sango's mother Hirata."

Rin moved slightly and reached back her hands, taking over Sesshomaru's arduous braiding with her small hands. "Yeah, Sango's mom told us all about it. She said they were all really good friends. The only problem was that Koorisumairu was in love with Inutaisho and she never told anyone. So he and Izayoi got together before she could confess her feelings...kinda sad."

"That is sad," Kagome replied. "Of course, if not for her, we wouldn't have Sesshomaru."

"Exactly," Rin piped up with a smile.

"And we do _looove _Sesshomaru," Ranbou said in a sickeningly sweet voice, grinning as he gave Sesshomaru a friendly punch to the shoulder.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. "You're an asshole."

"So where's everyone else's parents? I mean, no one ever goes home, it seems like," Kagome mentioned, squinching up her eyes the way she did in times of confusion or wonder.

Another voice entered the conversation, replying, "Well, my dad is there and my mom is with the _mitsukai _in the sky." Ayame saddled up easily beside Ranbou and leaned back against the counter, sipping her beer casually. Kagome nodded at the mention of the _mitsukai, _or, the angels. Her father was there, she imagined, probably having tea with Ayame's mother at that exact moment. Who knew who else he dined with in heaven, but Kagome liked to think it was lots of famous people.

"And my mom is probably in our apartment," Sango said as she, too, joined the conversation. "My dad's a worthless drunk and he's probably off somewhere in a gutter by now; he left when I was ten."

"Sorry," Kagome said quietly, as though expressing her condolences for both the girls.

But they only smiled. "Eh, don't worry hun," Ayame said with a grin. "Weird backgrounds is old hat around here. I mean, seriously, we all breast fed on gang life and we turned out fucked up, but everything else is fucked up too, so we all fit in."

Kagome smiled menially; nothing seemed to get these people down. At this moment, Shippo and Souten entered the warehouse, having just arrived from Cobra headquarters where they'd been working for the day. As Shippo walked in, the first thing he saw was the bare backs of four broad shouldered beings, bent over the front end of Inuyasha's Lamborghini Diablo. Frowning, he glanced around and saw no sign of the others.

"Hey you, who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked commandingly, knowing full well that only the gangs were allowed inside the warehouse.

Inutaisho glanced over his shoulder and said easily, "I'm Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Shitora's father. And you're..." At the sight of Shippo, Inutaisho paused and turned around the face the young boy, whose hair and eyes were telling of his parantage. Smiling, the dog demon said happily, "Shippo! I held you the day you were born."

Snorting, Kibishii turned and said gruffly, "That's creepy, Taish. If I were that kid, I'd turn tail and run right about now. 'Held you the day you were born,' holy crap..."

"Ease up, Kibi," Taizen said with a chuckle, his red hair falling before his face for the upteenth time. "You know how Inutaisho is about children. He remembers all of our kids' birth weights, heights, birthdays and bloodtypes."

"Hey, I don't know bloodtypes," Inutaisho said defensively. "That really would be creepy."

"You know Miroku's birthday?" Yamato asked with a disbelieving look on his face. "I don't believe it."

"December 23rd," came Inutaisho's prompt reply.

"Ew, creepy."

Souten furrowed her brow and cocked her raven black head to the side, crimson eyes alight with wonder. Finally she let out a gasp and exclaimed, "Holy freakin' crap, you're Taizen Saitou!"

Blinking, Taizen turned his emerald green gaze to meet that of an excited young Souten, who was less than half his impressive height. Scratching his head, Taizen bent down and asked confusedly, "Don't you mean, 'Inutaisho' or 'Kibishii' or 'Yamato?' I'm the un-famous one, sweetheart."

"No, no, no!" Souten exclaimed as she hopped excitedly from foot to foot in her tight leather pants, face practically cracking from her smile. "It's you, you set the record for fastest recorded motorcycle race time in 1984! You were riding a Honda CRx-87, right? Right?!"

As Taizen observed the girl with a sort of gentle surprise, Kibishii laughed heartily. "Damn right, kid, we had this name for him back in the day."

"Oh no, we're not going into that," Taizen said quickly, shaking his head while simultaneously rolling his eyes.

But it was too late; the teenagers had heard the commotion and come from the back to investigate, arriving at the front just in time to hear Kibishii's fond remembrance.

"You had a name? What was it, dad?" Ayame asked interestedly.

Yamato gave a ruthless grin. "Oh, it was a good one. Maybe not appropriate for the ladies, but it was a good one."

"What was it? I gotta know now, daddy," Ayame said, tugging on her fathers arm as she pleaded.

Inutaisho rolled his eyes as Kibishii continued to laugh. "Kibi, if you tell them..."

"Taizen the Fast Fuck! A true five minute man," Kibishii roared with laughter, doubling over as Taizen smacked a hand to his forehead in embarassment.

Ayame's face grew abnormally blue and the boys burst out laughing with Kibishii, trying to imagine Ayame's dad as "the Fast Fuck" of the day. Sango snorted, but managed to keep her humor under control for Ayame's sake. Rin and Kagome, however, had no problem with all out hilarity.

Burning a crimson red, Taizen said lowly, "Kibishii, shut the hell up. I was not a Fast Fuck, nor am I now, and I never will be! That was you, with all your women in the back of your pick up."

Laughter ensued once more as Kibishii grew rather red in the face to match his friend. "Hey now, no fair, I settled down eventually. I mean, everyone settles down, no matter how much of a fuck-around they are. I mean, look at Yamato!"

Yamato snorted. "I didn't 'fuck-around,' I just enjoyed the freedom given to be by the government."

Scrunching up his nose, Miroku muttered, "Okay, gross."

"Things we never needed to know about our fathers: Chapter 1," Kouga said sourly as Ranbou gave a curt nod.

Shippo sighed, observing the chaos of laughter and annoyance before him. He should've known what his father said was true: gang life was always full of surprises.

**Finally done! This is the longest chapter yet, I think, but it's so fun I couldn't stop writing. Go check out my xanga, all of you!**

**KOLU**


	27. Ambush

**And moving on. This is getting really intense, ya'll, not even joking. I'm really excited. This one is a little shorter than I normally write, but I'm trying to divide everything in such a way; I want ya'll to see beginnings and endings in certains places and chapters help me divide it in everyone's minds. So here we are with a 6600 word chapter...almost 1/3 the size of a normal one ;).**

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Naraku leaned back in his chair, allowing his neck to crane gracefully over the back as he smoked a cigarette between his restless lips. His crimson eyes held a bitter, annoyed quality which made all those around him wary; their fearless leader was a ticking timebomb, able to be set off at any one moment in time. His unpredictability was perhaps the scariest thing about him.

Sighing impatiently, Kagura recrossed her legs, allowing the room a clear view of her red lace thong as she said irritably, "I don't understand why we can't just send the Dragons and their little elite boys off to kill all those faggots in the South. We've got guns, right?"

This elicited a snort from Ryuukoytsusei, who tossed his emerald green mane with his usual arrogance. "We don't need guns, ya stupid slut, we get all we need with our hands. But we can't take out that many of em just us alone."

Kagura heard little of Ryuu's explanation and only fired angrily back, "Oh, a stupid slut, am I? I've gotten you off enough times, haven't I, dragon?"

Naraku's dark chuckle accompanied the sound of Ryuu's chair scraping back on the concrete as he observed Kagura with raging crimson eyes. "The day you get me off is the day I fuckin' die!"

"Oh yeah? You're a fuckin a-"

"Please, children," Naraku said patronizingly, eyeing both combatants with a sort of condescending irritation. "I was looking for quiet, which I see I was mistaken in expecting. Am I to be allowed to think?"

Never removing their eyes from their deadlocked stare, Kagura and Ryuukoytsusei retook their seats in a decidedly stiff manner, disgruntled by their recent spat. Naraku returned to his thoughtful pose, arched gracefully over the back of his chair, when Ryuu grew impatient as Kagura had a moment earlier.

"What are you thinking about, spider?" the Dragon leader asked gruffly. "I don't like that look in yer eye."

In response, Naraku blew out a stream of cigarette smoke, which pooled in an ominous cloud around his haunting face. "I want that girl, Kagome, the one the Wildcats are stringing along."

Kagura made a small gasping sound, as though she'd just been fatally shot in the chest, while Ryuu gave a derisive snort, crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest.

"Hardly an impressive human, Naraku. You have your pick of twenty more attractive women right here."

But Naraku was not to be swayed. In a suprising display of violence, he suddenly lashed out with his fist and brought it crashing down on the table, causing the weak wooden structure to split cleanly in two. Kagura gasped and fell unceremoniously out of her chair, staring frightfully at the recently destroyed table. Ryuu looked unimpressed, if not annoyed by the disappearance of the table, which he'd been resting his feet on.

"I don't want them, I want her; she's not just any fuck, dragon. She's Inuyasha's bitch; if I was to take his bitch, it would all be smooth sailing from there," Naraku declared through gritted teeth, the source of his anger still unevident.

Ryuu's face was one of confusion. "Why not just kill Sesshomaru's wench?"

"Because Sesshomaru is too in his head; if I kill his women, he'll destroy us. If I _take _Inuyasha's woman, not kill, but take her, he'll come running in a blind rage after her, leaving the Fangs to run around chaotically and try to back him up. That's the way we're going to bring them down," Naraku declared.

Kagura had, by this time, scrambled to her feet and retreated off into the corner, deciding to neglect her leadership duties until Naraku's rage had calmed. Ryuu, however, was used to the Spider leader's outbursts and only leaned forward on his knees, observing Naraku through still muddled crimson eyes. "I don't get why Inuyasha would pick such an unsuitable wench when he could have a far better fuck."

"Do you have someone else in mind?" Naraku taunted, intrigued by the whimsical look on Ryuu's face. When the Dragon made no reply, Naraku realized his initial assumption had been correct. "You do, don't you? A girl of the Taisho line, isn't it? A fine bitch to be sure. But way out of your league, Dragon. She's an expensive fuck."

With a terrifying roar which sounded from deep within his gut, Ryuukoytsusei rocketed to his feet, sending his chair flying out behind him. "Don't speak of her that way, Spider, you don't have the right! Take your worthless human whore, what should I care? But leave me and the elite out of it!"

And with that, Ryuukoytsusei stormed violently out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind him. Naraku watched him go before turning to Bokoru, who'd been picking his grimy nails during the conversation, paying it no mind. "What do you think, Bokoru? How would you deal with this situation?"

"I would take the Higurashi girl, sure, but then I'd take the Taisho girl too and string her up, maybe fuck around a little, just to piss that Dragon bastard off," Bokoru said tactlessly, never raising his gaze to meet Naraku's.

Smiling strangely, the Spider leader said quietly, "What an uncharacteristically good idea, Bokoru. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

Sunlight streamed through Kikyo's open window, lighting the deceivingly dark room with a hint of sunshine. Kagome smiled as Kikyo began using her index finger to draw shapes and figures in the air, a typical Kikyo motion; Kagome wasn't sure how she'd survived with Kikyo's weirdness in her life.

The graceful girl sat smoothly upright, coffee brown eyes deepers than oceans and skies could ever imagine. It was the immenseness of her eyes which was truly frightening, Kagome imagined. But in all their time together, Kagome was forgetting to be scared. Kikyo's swaddling white clothes dwarfed her as she sat there, untameable, silken black locks pooling around her on the hospital bed. The contrast of her black hair on the starch hospital bedding was striking.

"His car exploded?" Kikyo finally said.

Kagome managed a small laugh, as she'd told the story about Miroku's misfortune nearly ten minutes ago. It had taken Kikyo ten entire minutes to mull over the startling occurance in her strange head. "Yeah, exploded and caught on fire and burned."

"And you kissed Inuyasha?"

Here, Kagome's laughter came to an abrupt halt; she hadn't told her that. Blinking her brown eyes curiously, Kagome asked, "What do you mean?" in a steady voice.

Kikyo's humorless chuckle was answer enough, though she continued, "It's written all over your happy face, Kagome. You did it, didn't you?"

It sounded almost accusatory, the way she said this, but Kagome knew the girl meant little or no harm by it. It was simply Kikyo's way, putting things in blunt terms a three year old could understand, as though she feared being unable to connect with other humans. Kagome found her relatively unconnectable right then anyway, but hadn't the heart to tell her; it didn't seem right.

"I...he...we did. At Race Wars."

Kikyo nodded so slowly that Kagome imagined a nearly waveless sea lapping against the side of a boat. "I should've known; I suspected it would happen after our last visit."

"Really?"

Kagome knew that of course, Kikyo really had thought this, but "really" seemed to be the only word she could speak correctly at the time. With a sigh, Kikyo draped herself over the bed in a way reminscent of a silken throw cover. "It was on your face again. Maybe you should check in here yourself, Kagome, the helpless victim of an emotional face; it gives away everything you think."

"Pretty bad, huh?" Kagome laughed, not altogether comfortable. "I could never lie to anyone, I guess."

"If only that were true," came Kikyo's cryptic reply.

There was a silence between the two girls, as there was prone to be. Kagome had learned not to twiddle her thumbs or seem uncomfortable in the silence, for it only led to Kikyo's taunting and titilating responses. Something about her was so alluring that it alarmed Kagome; she wasn't a lesbian, to be sure, but why then did she find Kikyo so attractive? Why did her mouth seem to stop working whenever she visited? What about Kikyo dulled the senses like a sweet smelling poison?

"You really love him."

It was a statement from Kikyo, not a question nor a suggestion. A statement. Kagome bit her lip in a fretful manner, nearly drawing blood in her nervousness; there were times when she wanted nothing more than to escape the limitless black of Kikyo's stare.

"I do."

"And it kills you, too," Kikyo pointed out astutely.

After a silence, Kagome practically shouted, "Why won't they let me in? What's so wrong with me, huh? Haven't I been loyal? Haven't I proved myself? Why won't they let me in?!"

The desperation in Kagome's beautiful face provoked no visible emotion from Kikyo, who merely lifted one lily white hand to examine her nails. "They're not ready. At this point, I think it has less to do with you and more to do with them. You can only sit back and wait now."

"I don't understand," Kagome confessed. Her brown eyes were fraught with anger, fear, confusion, betrayal, and a whole manner of conflicting emotions. "I really don't and I never will. I might as well leave because they're never going to get over you."

It was the first time Kagome had used the word "you" when talking about her obstacle in the Wildcats. It was always slightly understood, that Kikyo was the real milestone in this equation, but Kagome didn't want to sound accusatory. Now was not the time for formalities, however. With this simple word, "you," Kagome confessed the deepest fear she'd harbored since she learned of the Wildcats and their tantilizing life style: the Wildcats would never make room in their hearts for another core member. Not after Kikyo.

Kikyo only shrugged. "You don't know that and neither do I. We don't know anything. That's something you need to face, Kagome; we don't know anything and we never will. Life is a painful, confusing, undisectable blur and no one knows what's going on. But that's why we're all here together, to see if two or more heads can make sense of this chaotic mess of feelings called the world."

Kagome was silent for a moment in reverence to Kikyo's wise words, a habit she'd taken up in the past few months; sometimes, Kikyo said something so deeply profound that silence was required afterwards. Finally, she mumbled, "Sorry about all this. Me and Inuyasha, I mean. I feel like its unfair to you."

At this, Kikyo only gave a rather thick throated laugh. "Don't worry about any of it; I need a bigger man than Inuyasha to tame me." Kagome knew not to be offended by Kikyo's statement for, indeed, it would take someone rather incredible to tame her. "I'm being released in a month."

The news startled Kagome, not only because it was delivered in such a flippant way, but also by the sheer meaning of it. Kikyo had only been in the clinic for one summer; was that truly a long enough time to cure someone of depression and nymphomania?

But Kagome didn't voice these concerns. If Kikyo said it, it was true. "Where will you go?"

"Paris."

"Paris?" Kagome echoed incredulously.

As though it were perfectly obvious, Kikyo replied, "Of course. What better place for a depressed, sex starved enjenou than Paris? France is a haven for sexual depravity and I will be their queen."

Kagome laughed. "I guess that makes sense. I'll come see you off."

"Don't bother," Kikyo replied with a gentle smile. "I'll be gone before you know it."

Kagome could feel their conversation drawing to a close and something in her gut made it seem rather final, as though they would never speak again. Standing rather slowly, Kagome sobered and said earnestly, "It's been my pleasure to know you, Kikyo."

"And mine to know you," was Kikyo's simple reply, though Kagome could tell she meant every word.

As Kagome exited the room, leaving behind a woman so extrodinary that she might only be immortalized through spirit, she felt a sudden weight lift from her shoulders. Kikyo had overcome a terrible trial, several to be precise, and come out the amazing human Kagome had come to know. Perhaps if someone could do all that in one summer, Kagome might succeed in the long run. Who knew what might happen.

It had been a rather rainy day and the sky was darkly overcast, threatening to rain down another load of water upon the hapless city. Kagome crossed her arms fretfully over her chest as a cold sea wind blew past. She'd worn a simple red t-shirt and jean mini skirt for, when she left the house, it had been almost 90 degrees outside, even in the rain. But the temperature had dropped considerably and Kagome was missing her jacket.

The bus stop was deserted, most having opted to stay home in the gruesome weather; the Triumph had broken down for good and was currently in the shop under Akago's careful consideration and Kagome felt rather strange being driven to visit Kikyo by one of her friends. The bus schedule showed that the last bus to Rin's neighborhood had left three minutes prior and Kagome wrinkled her nose; perhaps she could hail a taxi. But the street was all but deserted as shop keepers boarded up their windows, fearing strong ocean winds in the evening. Rin's house was only about two miles away; she could simply walk.

These were all little details, miniscule and unimportant to Kagome, but they were all variables adding into a dangerous equation. The circumstances were indeed just right to facilitate on of Naraku's hideous plans, but Naraku was the last thing on her mind. Without a care, Kagome turned and began walking boredly down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, enjoying the stormy skies.

Tokyo was laid out in a rather strange pattern, with the borders between sections of town painfully obvious to a passersby. The rich portion of town directly bordered the slums and, in one intersection, the entire atmosphere could change. Such was the area in which Kagome was currently walking, a dark and seedy area near Rin's beautifully large and extravagant neighborhood. Kagome chuckled to herself as she passed what must've been the tenth headshop since she left the clinic.

She'd covered perhaps a mile before she got a rather strange feeling in her stomach; looking left and right, she saw nothing suspicious and decided it was just her imagination. Kagome continued walking until the feeling struck her again and her eyes began to shift unconciously back and forth. "Hello?" she called, feeling rather foolish. Of course no one would answer.

The footsteps behind her were so quiet that Kagome couldn't even hear them. In one smooth motion, a hand came over Kagome's mouth and she found herself roughly dragged to the side, obviously into a side alley, without so much as the ability to scream. She could feel rough clothing against her legs, callouses on her lips as the hand pressed closer, and her eyes grew wide as she screamed; no one could hear and, in this part of town, no one cared anyway.

She managed to land a painful kick in her agressor's stomach and he grunted, releasing her as she fell unceremoniously to the ground, wiping fervently at her lips. Kagome whipped her head around and took in the sight of her attacker, whose face was slightly familiar. She could remember him as Kaijinbo, Naraku's violent second in command, who had a love for knived and weaponry, though in a much sicker way than most.

Tall and skinnier than anyone should be, Kaijinbo loomed over her, blood red eyes glittering with malevolence. His bald head was dull in the gloomy light, though his razor sharp fangs managed to catch what little light there was; he resembled a vampire in that moment and Kagome shuddered.

"Don't give us trouble, girl," he hissed.

It was then that Kagome noticed two Spiders, flanking him on either side with bored expressions on their faces. Apparently, assaulting women was an every day occurance and they weren't impressed by Kaijinbo's frightening display.

Kagome opened her mouth to scream for help, but Kaijinbo quickly raised his clawed hand and hissed, "Scream and I'll gut you like a fish."

Her mouth clamped shut rather quickly and Kagome found herself unable to do anything but sit there against the dingy alley wall, limbs dirty and wet as she stared frozen at her assailants. Kaijinbo leaned forward to grab her and she made as though to run away, only serving to make the demon mad; he held her with such force that the claws on his fingertips dug into her arm flesh, causing her to whimper in pain. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't think as the tears rolled down her face in a steady stream. This was it; she was really going to die.

"Let go, Kaijinbo."

A pained grunt was heard from one of the bored Spiders as someone landed a painfully hard kick in his abdomen and he stumbled backwards, leaning against the wall for support. Kaijinbo turned abruptly and scowled, eyes flickering with hatred. "Gan the Gun, you fucking traitor."

Gan stood tall, violet eyes burning a deep mauve. "Kaijinbo, the witless wonder."

The boy reached into his jacket and removed a revolver loaded with strangely colored bullets, his movements precise yet languid in his typical careless manner. Distracted by Gan's presence, Kaijinbo threw Kagome bitterly to the side, causing her to land with a thud against the alley wall. Kagome's vision blurred and then disappeared altogether as she lay their helplessly, listening the sounds of Gan as he faced the Spiders without fear.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kaijinbo growled.

But Gan only gave a mirthless laugh. "I was wandering by when I heard what sounded like attempted rape. Though I might check it out."

Kaijinbo was not amused and, without further banter, threw his hand forward to send the Spiders after his opponent. They rocketed forward with their fists raised, causing Gan to sigh and shake his head as he refused to move despite their alarming closing speed. He simply pulled the trigger and watched as the first Spider fell to the ground, eyes wide open as he felt his blood freeze in his limbs; he was paralyzed.

The second Spider, who was slightly smarter than the first, reached down to his belt and unhooked a 9mm, raising it until the barrel was pointed directly at Gan's forehead. Gan seemed unfazed and merely sidestepped, shooting his opponent with the same type of bullet which immobilized his friend.

Kaijinbo scowled and crossed his arms bitterly across his abnormally thin chest. "You took that gun from our warehouse."

"Well, yes," Gan admitted, pretending to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "It looked so lonely with only idiots attempting to shoot it. I felt bad for it and decided to take it with me when we left your sorry asses behind."

This comment only proved to enrage Kaijinbo further and he let out a roar, lengthening his claws to nearly four inches in length before launching himself at Gan. Unlike his backup fighters, Kaijinbo was very skilled and Gan adopted a strict face as he fought, replacing his gun inside his jacket; he knew the bullets in his gun would do little against someone like Kaijinbo. It was well known that the crazed demon had injected himself with all sorts of steroid type concoctions in order to achieve immortality, an obssession of his. The result of his experiments varied, from hair loss all over his body to inpentrability of the skin on his legs. Whatever the cause, Kaijinbo was becoming frighteningly close to invincible.

Gan fought almost mindlessly with the Kaijinbo, raising his arms in a solid X as Kaijinbo brought his claws crashing down at Gan's face. The four inch claws imbedded themselves in Gan's forearms and he let out a pained grunt; he could see the claw tips protruding from his underarm, having gone in one side and come out the other. Blood rained down on Gan's face as he struggled to keep Kaijinbo at arms length. Though he appeared calm on the outside, girl Gan was raging on the inside.

_"Crap, crap, crap, this is bad, this is really, really bad. I'm not suppose to die this way! This isn't the way it's supposed to be! Damnit, this bastard deserves to die. I should just kill him...except that I'm strictly against that kind of behavior. Why am I so fucking sensetive?! Why can't I be a man for real? I bet Akago would have no problem in killing Kaijinbo's sorry ass, but oh no, here you are losing the fight because of your damn hormones! God dammit, Misaki, pull yourself together!"_

Kaijinbo had since grown tired of the stalemate and yelled impatiently, leaning forehead his head in a startling motion. In one stunning movement, Kaijinbo executed a rough headbutt and sent Gan's head cracking back on his neck, causing his hat to fly backwards to the wet ground.

Gan felt as though the moment moved in slow motion, his hat coming away from his head and leaving both girl and boy Gan with a sense of lost security. _I knew I shouldn't have grown my hair long, _was all Gan could think as her golden hair tumbled down around her, damp with sweat and dull with lack of care. The way long hair changed the look of Gan's face was startling and Kaijinbo paused, withdrawing his claws from Gan's arms as he stared aghast at her fallen body.

Both paralyzed Spiders let out gasps and curses of wonder while Kaijinbo could only murmur, "A woman?"

Kagome blinked as her vision began to return and she could barely make out the blurry outline of Kaijinbo's back as he stood over someone on the wet asphalt. As her sight regained some of its sharpness, Kagome wondered is she was suddenly seeing untruths for, on the ground beneath Kaijinbo, lay a girl. She was young, Kagome estimated, maybe 15, but she was wearing the baggy jeans and shirt of a boy. Her jacket was leather, like those of the gangs, with a familiar trinket hanging on the leather cord around her neck; a shark's tooth.

The girl raised her bloody face slightly, staring up at Kaijinbo as she spat crudely in a nearby puddle. Kagome could only stare as she recalled those familiar violet eyes. That girl was none other than Gan the Gun and there was no doubt in her mind.

Gan coughed bitterly as blood ran down her throat from her bleeding lips and nose, a product of Kaijinbo's heatbutt. "Fuck this," she mumbled in a voice quite like Gan's, if not slightly higher.

Kagome couldn't quite understand what "fuck this" was supposed to mean but, in one quick moment, Gan reached inside her jacket and produced a six shooter pistol, which she proceeded to fire three times. Each bullet was directed at the heart of a Spider and each died in that single moment as the sharp sound of shots echoed around the alleyway. Kaijinbo's face was pained as he fell to his knees, breathing his last breath as he gazed into the eyes of his killer. In that one, undefined moment, Kaijinbo died, knowing Gan the Gun's deepest, darkest secret which he could never reveal in death.

Kagome said nothing as she and Gan sat there in silence, eyes locked, brown upon violet, as they wondered what came next in such a situation. Finally, Gan struggled to her feet, shaking away the dizziness which haunted her aching head. Kagome shakily brought her palms to the gritty floor, pushing herself into a trembling stand with the brick wall as her aid. The two continued to stare at one another, Kagome in wonder and Gan in an unreadable state; neither knew what would come of this.

Gan finally hung her head and looked down at her pistol; she supposed this didn't count as senseless killing. Knowing her secret, none of them could live; they would only use it for their own devious gain. Besides that, it would end her stay here in Tokyo. And she wasn't finished yet.

As Gan stared at the pistol, Kagome wondered for a moment if the girl was going to shoot her. After all, Kagome knew something that obviously wasn't meant to be known. Didn't that warrant her death?

But Gan replaced the pistol inside her inner jacket pocket, wincing as her arms contracted painfully; her fight with Kaijinbo had been difficult and, by all standards, she should've lost. If she hadn't used a gun, Gan was quite sure she would've.

Blood pooled at Gan's feet as she finally sighed, glancing up at the dark skies. "An accident. That's what this was." Kagome shivered as another cold wind blew by. She couldn't think of anything to say and, in kind, she remained silent. Gan continued with an almost defeated smile on her lips. "If you can imagine, Kagome, you weren't supposed to know this."

The entire scene was surreal for Kagome; all this time, she'd regarded Gan as a male, spoken to her as one, thought of Gan as another masculine being in the gangs of Tokyo. But all this time, she'd been speaking to a woman in man's clothing, masquerading as the opposite sex for whatever reasons she had. It was strange and awkward as she huddled against the wall, cold, hurt, filthy and afraid. There was a heavy silence as Gan gauged Kagome's reaction.

"Why?" was all Kagome could choke through her tight throat.

Another humorless smile attacked Gan's lips and she gave a dry chuckle. "Why. I have my reasons, none of which include cross dressing fantasies or gender confusion. At first it was simple necessity, but it changed long ago. I came and...couldn't leave. Do you understand that?"

Kagome didn't answer right away and Gan sighed lightly, chest constricting even as she stood there. "I suppose you don't."

The rain began to fall, a few drops which grew into a steady pour from the angry, black heavens. Kagome's hair struck to her forehead as she stood stupidly against the alley wall, staring down at the three dead bodies before her and the girl leaning blankly against the wall across from her. Surreal.

"I'm at your mercy, Kagome."

Kagome hadn't thought about the situation in exactly these terms, though she knew now that it was true. Obviously, Gan had her reasons for pretending to be a boy, as she'd said, but having one person know her secret wasn't reason enough to tell the whole world. Why ever it was Gan was walking around in disguise, Kagome knew it was important and needed to continue.

"I won't tell," Kagome whispered, a sound which came out almost as a cry. She hadn't noticed tears mingling with the rain on her cheeks.

Gan glanced up, slightly surprised. "I know you won't tell, Kagome," she said quietly. "I never thought you would. But let it be known...I am at your mercy."

Kagome managed a slight nod before standing strong on her two feet, if not with a slight tremor in her legs. Smiling sadly, Gan reached down and managed to barely grip her hat before a lance of pain shot down her arms. She gasped and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. After watching this, Kagome took a deep breath and shuffled slowly across the alley, reaching down and taking Gan's hat in her own bruised hands before placing it beneath her chin. This done, she gathered Gan's golden tresses in her hands, folding them neatly up before placing the hat securely on the girl's head. In that one moment, Gan the Gun transformed back into his normal boy persona and Kagome almost gasped; the change was so radical it was almost unreal.

Gan gazed at Kagome with his violet eyes brimming with gratitude. "Thank you."

Kagome nodded and helped Gan to his feet once more, wary of his wounds. "Is...is Gan your real name?"

A smile played at Gan's lips. Indeed, a humorous question. "No, it's not...I used the first name which came to my tongue. I'm not sure why it was Gan."

The two began stumbling brokenly out of the alleyway, leaving the three bodies behind them. Kagome asked tentatively, "What's your real name, then?"

"Misaki," Gan replied curtly. "It never fit me, I don't think."

"Gan fits you well."

Smiling at the girl beside him, Gan replied quietly, "I think so too." The two were silent, expressing tacit thanks in both directions, before Gan continued, "We should get you back to Fang headquarters."

"And we need your arms looked at," Kagome reminded him, caring brown eyes wide with concern.

Gan only shook his head ruefully. "I'm sure Akago will want to do it; he likes to lecture me when I get hurt doing 'stupid Gan things,' as he calls them. If he does it when he's bandaging me, I can't talk back because he yanks the bandages if I do. He's a cunning fellow."

Kagome managed a weak smile. "Yeah, he is."

"My car is in the next alley over, but I'm afraid you'll have to drive; I don't believe I can," Gan admitted.

Kagome took the keys from his jacket pocket and said strongly, "I can do it."

This said, the two girls walked to Gan's blue mustang, getting slowly inside as they mulled over the recent events; this was the beginning of change and both knew it. What kind of change, they weren't sure, but it couldn't possibly be good. Little did they know that more change would take place in the near future. Dangerous change.

Sesshomaru sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke into the humid sea air. The storm was pounding atop the warehouse roof, making quite a racket on the tin, as his mechanics continued working tirelessly away. It was slightly cooler due to the storm, which was perhaps the only plus to this situation; Sesshomaru disliked rain because it masked too many scents. He preferred to know where things were, where people where, what they were doing and so on. Rain stifled his favorite sense, his sense of smell, and it always set him in a bad mood.

He'd spent the morning with Rin working on one of the Cobra's Toyota Celica's, which he'd spun out and crashed that very morning. He'd been driving on the highway when he hydroplaned and hit the concrete divider; the entire front end was trashed and bent, but Sesshomaru and Rin could fix it. While they didn't normally do mechanic work and stuck to their papers and filing, they were two of the most capable mechanics in the warehouse. Sesshomaru smiled slightly as he watched Rin bent over the hood of the Celica hammering out dents, wearing her Dickie's zip up mechanic overalls. She certainly looked cute just then.

A pair of headlights through the deluge outside caught Sesshomaru's attention and he watched as a familiar blue Mustang came rolling up to the gravel parking area. With his less than adequate dog vision, he couldn't quite make out the passenger, though he noticed something strange right off the bat. When the car shut off and the driver stepped out, Sesshomaru was able to recognize the person as Kagome, who was walking quite laboriously as she hurried to the passenger's side. She opened the door and helped the passenger to their feet, a passenger who proved to be none other than Gan the Gun. The way she supported Gan as they walked could mean nothing but bad news and Sesshomaru dropped his cigarette, crushing the flame beneath his boot.

"Inuyasha, get Akago up here!" Sesshomaru called urgently, jogging out to meet the two as they crossed the threshold into the warehouse.

Sesshomaru could now see that Kagome was covered in dirt and blood which trickled from puncture wounds on her upper arms. It didn't look too serious, if not painful, but Gan seemed to be quite injured; the eight puncture wounds on his arms, obviously inflicted by the same attacker, were pouring blood and Sesshomaru could see they'd gone all the way through his forearms.

"What happened?" he asked as he took over Kagome's position helping Gan inside; the gun weilder seemed to be quite dizzy from loss of blood.

Kagome replied in deep distress, "I was walking home from visiting Kikyo when I got attacked by three Spiders. They would've gotten a lot farther if Gan hadn't showed up; he took care of them."

"Sess...sesshomaru," Gan managed to get out blearily. He couldn't quite make out shapes as they walked, blurs of color distracting him every which way. He did remember his important message, however. "Clean up in an alley on...on...Morai street, near the i-intersection at Coral...three bod...bodies...clean up..."

Sesshomaru was able to make sense of Gan's mumbles and he called out to Ranbou, who was already hurrying in their direction to offer his assistance. "Ranbou, three bodies in an alley near Morai and Coral, take the elite," the Fang leader said curtly.

Ranbou nodded and called to Hakkaku and Ginta before withdrawing his motorcycle keys from his pocket. Shitora arrived just as he was preparing to leave and asked confusedly, "What's going on?"

"Clean up, I'll be back soon," he replied, placing a quick kiss on her forehead before hurrying out to the gravel parking lot, Hakkau and Ginta hot on his tail.

Inuyasha and Akago came hurrying to the front of the warehouse and, upon seeing Kagome standing there covered in mud and blood, Inuyasha felt the breath leave his body in a woosh. She looked so hurt and frightened, he couldn't imagine what had transpired, but he was already feeling guilty for not preventing it. "Kagome?" he said confusedly, hurriedly grabbing her shoulders as he looked her over for injuries.

Kagome gasped as one of his claws grazed her upper arm and Inuyasha furrowed his brow, noticing the claw holes for the first time. Fire enveloped his gaze and he barred his teeth, asking murderously, "Who did this?!"

"K-Kaijinbo..." Kagome stuttered, fearing the look in Inuyasha's eyes. "He's dead, Inuyasha, Gan got him," she said quickly, for the hanyou looked as though he were two seconds away from sprinting out of the warehouse.

Inuyasha's amber eyes held not only anger, but a look of hoplessness that nearly broke Kagome's heart. He looked so helpless and scared as he stood there, unsure of what to do. This confusion only last a moment before he drew her into a tight hug which she returned desperately; she felt so safe in his arms, it was as though not even the hounds of hell could drag her away. She clung to him as though he were her only link to life, relishing in his scent and wishing they might never part.

Meanwhile, Akago had taken one look at Gan and cursed, crimson eyes flashing with an angry sort of concern. "Damn," he muttered as he briefly examined the puncture wounds. "I'll take him Sesshomaru." This said, the albino demon hefted Gan easily onto his back, carrying him towards the lounge area with a quickness in his step.

Gan was feeling slightly stronger, just from the energy in Akago's presence. Akago could still see the blurry look in his second's eyes and he growled, "You're in a heaping lot of trouble, I hope you know that."

This only provoked a dry chuckle from Gan, who felt the dizziness overcome him once more. "I...bet...oh, shit..." and with this, the boy fell unconcious.

Akago grunted as the dead weight descended upon him, but he adjusted to it quickly and easily. "Not a good sign," he murmured to himself.

At the front of the warehouse, Sesshomaru was already starting to pace restlessly back and forth. Rin sighed as she rubbed Kagome's back soothingly, having interrupted her hug with Inuyasha a few minutes prior. The others were just becoming aware of the situation, as the demons could smell almost nothing in the rain, and people crowded around the grit and blood smeared Kagome.

"What the hell happened?" Shitora asked urgently.

"Yeah," a few echoed, obviously concerned as they exchanged worried glances.

Kagome replied quietly, "I was ambushed downtown by some Spiders."

The girls gasped and the boys cursed as yet more glances were exchanged. Inuyasha furrowed his brow momentarily and said, "Wait a second, you were _alone _downtown?"

Kagome was silent before she angled her gaze downward, hesitant to meet Inuyasha's eyes. "I missed the last bus," she all but whispered.

Miroku said pleadingly, "Kagome, next time, just call one of us, any of us would've gotten you!"

"How could you be so stupid?!" Inuyasha practically yelled, throwing his clawed hands akimbo as his amber eyes glittered indignantly. "You could've gotten raped or worse! You know you're not supposed to be alone downtown, or anywhere for that matter! We've _told _you that! _I've _told you that!"

The others murmured and voiced agreement as Ayame quickly put her arm around Kagome's shoulders, saying defensively, "Hey, she wasn't thinking 'gee, I might get attacked by perverts today.' She was only walking to Rin's house, weren't you? It's only, what, two miles away? Cut her some slack!"

"Aya, we can't cut slack," Kouga cut in sadly. "This is exactly why; they'll target you girls because they know it's a good way to get us angry and start trouble. They're going to try to use you and we don't want that, which is why we made this rule. Not to belittle you or some shit, just to protect you."

Though the honesty in Kouga's blue eyes made Ayame's hard demeanor soften at first, she soon remembered the irritation she felt for this entire situation. "But we're going to make mistakes, okay? I bet lot's of us wandered off at Race Wars before remembering. Besides, you can't be with us absolutely all the time!"

"Yes we can!" Kouga roared back, displaying a more passionate emotion than even Ranbou could remember him displaying. The wolf looked so desperate to make Ayame and the other girls understand, it was truly heartbreaking. "We _can _be with you all the time and we will be! It's the only way!"

Ayame stared, quietly shocked, back at Kouga, who was breathing quickly in his fervor. After a moment of true silence, Sesshomaru interrupted, "We should get you treated, Kagome, before those wounds get infected. Then we'll need to talk about this attack. Did you recognize any of them?"

"Kaijinbo," Kagome said at once, recalling the face of her vampirical attacker.

Sesshomaru sighed deeply; he'd feared as much. "This is going to be a difficult conflict," he said quietly, walking back with Rin, Inuyasha and Kagome as they approached the lounge area.

Little did Sesshomaru know that this conflict would arrive much quicker than he anticipated, within the next week to be exact. And it would indeed by difficult.

**That was quick, huh? Much quicker than normal for me, as you're all painfully aware. I'll start work on the next chapter right away; we're getting close to all the meaty stuff now! Thanks to my reviewers as always.  
**

**KOLU**


	28. Regrouping

**Moving right along. Thanks everyone for the positive feedback and I would like to acknowledge an error made in the chapter before last; I said that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were both one and four months apart. They are four months apart, repeat, four months. Sorry about that.**

**On to the chapter!**

Gan opened his eyes to reveal a familiar wood ceiling, windchimes tinkling lightly in the background as an ocean breeze filtered in through the curtains. He was obviously in Akago's private quarters at the Shark headquarters, though he couldn't remember anything past speaking to Sesshomaru at the Fang warehouse. The rim of his hat was still depressing on his forehead, a good sign; at least no incriminating blonde hair had escaped. A tug on his arm alerted his attention and Gan glanced to the side, observing Akago as he worked dilligently away on the four right-armed puncture wounds.

"Defending a woman. Honorable," was all the Shark leader said, never removing his eyes from his work.

At first, Gan said nothing. "I suppose," was all he finally mustered out. His lips were having mild trouble moving after such a long, mind blowing sleep.

"So it was worth eight claw wounds, then?" Akago said wryly in his second's direction, obviously worried though he displayed it through irritation.

"You and I both know Kagome's worth much more than that," was all Gan said, feeling the need to chastise his leader about his inattention to Kagome's worth. She was a brilliant girl, pretty, kind, caring and an integral part of a group of friends she'd only met three months prior: obviously, there was something special about Kagome Higurashi and Gan was proud to have saved her, if only once.

Akago finished cleaning the last of the wounds and dropped a soiled cotton ball in the trash before reaching for bandages. "Well, if you insist, my friend. In any case, you're lucky that no nerves were severed. I couldn't have fixed that."

"I know," was all that Gan replied.

After Akago finished bandaging both Gan's thin arms, the boy sat up and flexed them experimentally, nodding half to himself and half to his leader. "Good then. I have a disgusting amount of paperwork to finish before the next monthly meeting so if you'll excu-"

"Absolutely not," Akago interrupted quickly, crimson eyes flashing in a terrifying manner. "Gan, you will go to your room and rest until I say you may get up. And THAT," the Shark leader practically shouted, cutting off an open-mouthed Gan's attempt to protest, "is a direct order from your superior."

It was rare that Akago gave any of his men direct orders and only the second one he'd ever given Gan. The boy stared at him defiantly, however pale his face or weak his eyes might've been, and eventually, he slid easily off the bed. Gan gave a slight bow to Akago, whose arms were crossed stoutly, and murmured, "Hai, Tomouku_," _before exiting the room.

Before Gan could disappear completely, Akago said in a strained voice, "Gan, wait. I didn't mean it that way, I'm just feeling the pressure of this all. It's no excuse, please sit down; I have something to discuss with you. And for Kami's sake, don't call me that."

Gan paused and glanced back at his leader, who was massaging his temples in evident pain and pacing restlessly along the far wall. The many windows and doors were open, allowing the sunset and its winds to filter in, but the beauty was lost on Gan, who's attention was set directly on the white haired demon before him. Akago looked so...pained that the boy simply couldn't leave.

"TomoukuYou dislike it when I call you that?" Gan asked casually, knowing full well the answer; he called Akago "tomouku" in a concious attempt to gain ground in arguments.

But when Akago raised his crimson eyes to meet Gan's violet ones, all animosity seemed to drain from the boys fingers. "It kills me when you call me that, frankly. You may be my second, but you're also my dearest friend. The idea that you're beneath me or that we're not on equal footing makes me ill. Sit."

The sad glimmer in those crimson eyes commanded Gan like no words could and he quietly took a seat cross legged on the bed, observing Akago as he dug into his pocket looking for cigarettes. He found none and sighed, rubbing tiredly at his forehead. Gan reached inside his own pocket, indulgingly producing a packet of Marlboro reds, and tossed them to his leader without a word. Akago, in turn, caught them silently without even opening his eyes, a small but impressive show of his great skill, and lit one with a match from the table, releasing a dark cloud of smoke. As Akago stood there in his tight black jeans and open chested white Venetian shirt, sillhouetted against the sunset on the sea, Gan felt his gender wavering once more and the girl within him commandeered his mind.

Misake remembered well what she'd told Kagome earlier that day, or was it yesterday? She wasn't sure how long she'd slept, but the incident felt fresh in her mind. "_...at first it was simple necessity, but that changed long ago. I came and...couldn't leave. Do you understand that?" _It was silly, in retrospect, to expect Kagome to understand anything about the incident at all, but Misaki had tried her hardest to explain the situation. She came to the Sharks lost and alone, found by the man she now followed with her life, and came to know an emotion she'd never understood before. Her father had certainly never expressed it, nor had her siblings, who were, like her, trying to take care of themselves in a parentless atmosphere. Yakuza families were never friends, but opponents; her brothers were trying to make it just like her and they didn't have time to help anyone else. Misaki understood that and wasn't offended.

But now this emotion, this...did she even hesitate to think the word? This...

Love?

Yes, that was it, she was fairly sure, but she didn't know what kind. She'd been told there were several different kinds of love, the most normal being platonic, romantic and friendly, but she couldn't quite place her relationship with Akago. She knew it wasn't romantic because he thought she was a boy and he wasn't gay. It was simple in that respect, so it couldn't be romantic. Right? But Misaki shook her head free of those thoughts; there was no one else in her head to answer her questions. _And for that I should be thankful. If I was not only pretending to be a boy but also happened to be schizophrenic, life would be far more difficult than it already is. And this is pretty damn difficult by itself._

"Is there something on your mind, Akago?"

While Gan knew this was quite the ridiculous question and only voiced by his mouth to avert attention from his feelings, he remained calm and placid. Unfazeable Gan, Gan the Gun; he was never bothered by petty human emotions.

Akago continued pacing for a moment before he murmured, quietly, "Why Kagome? What do they want with her?"

"I know not, Akago."

"And attacking her downtown? Have they been following her? What is Naraku planning?"

"I know not, Akago."

"Furthermore, how does this fit in to his dreams of owning Salter? How will sweet little Kagome get him th-"

"Akago, stop pacing, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

The white haired leader raised a hand to his head, massaging his temples and managing to look a full ten years older than his eighteen years. "I'm sorry Gan, I'm getting myself all out of sorts."

But Gan only smiled, one which didn't completely reach his eyes; Akago noticed this, but chalked it up to his friends' taxing day. Being ambushed and barely escaping with your life didn't exactly call for celebration and free drinks, as it were. "True, you are out of sorts, but I'm afraid that I can't get you back in them for once. I don't have answers for you."

"I know," Akago said wearily. He braced himself on the window sill, staring almost longingly at the sea, as though wave and ocean foam could satiate his need to know the truth. "I'm just so used to you having the answers, Gan, forgive me."

The comment startled Gan, who whipped his head around to look at the back of his leader's head. All during his stay within the Sharks, he'd looked to Akago for guidance and advice. Now the white haired man had the audacity to insinuate he received answers from _Gan? _Little, harmless skinny Gan? This was the boy who looked enough like a woman to warrant mystery, though his actions and demeanor proved him male. _Or...at least to others, _the boy reminded himself gently. But to imagine himself giving advice to Akago was almost unthinkable. Akago was so brilliant...did he even need advice?

"Of course," Gan murmured quietly, bowing his head in the slightest fashion. "And I'm sorry again that I can't help you; I know you want to get to the bottom of this."

"I do, but it can't be helped."

"I don't know if we'll ever fully understand those bastards, Akago. So until then, I guess we'll just have to sit tight, ne?" Gan said in a brighter tone, hoping to cheer his leader.

But Akago could only smile wryly in return. "Yes indeed. Waiting for someone to make the first move. I hate waiting."

Since the attack some four hours prior, things in the warehouse had changed almost indefinitely. After Kagome's condition was seen to by the girls, who had fine but limited first aid knowledg, cars began arriving in the gravel lot outside.

Bankotsu and the Cobra core were immediately called to attention, as were the remaining members of the Reikon core; as soon as Kagome was deemed somewhat physically fit, Sesshomaru brusquely ordered her to rest as he called the gang leaders and cores to the back of the room. They exchanged information and ideas for about an hour, trading advice with one another about suspected Spider activity in their areas, until Sesshomaru released all but the leaders and seconds from duty.

For another hour after that, loud arguing could be heard from the back of the room as Kagome shivered in Inuyasha's arms, suddenly feeling the effects of the attack on not only her body, but her mind. Inuyasha tried several times, unsuccessfully, to lure Kagome away from the warehouse. She seemed transfixed with the argument going on in the back of the warehouse, wondering if she'd caused the escalated voices and hateful words. Inuyasha finally reached his limit and insisted on taking Kagome to his house to rest; he knew that, no matter how tough Kagome seemed, this event was going to take its toll.

"Hiten, we can't just go charging into a fight," Sesshomaru said wearily, leaning back in his chair as smoked drifted lazily from the end of his cigarette. Hiten was regarding him through bitter crimson eyes, fangs barred dangerously. That was the fourth time Sesshomaru had denied him vindication.

For about an hour now, Sesshomaru and the other leaders had been tirelessly denying their second in commands' requests to attack Naraku the next morning. Though Kouga, Hiten, Hakaku and Ayame were brilliant strategists, they didn't have their leaders' talents for noticing details and specifics. They were more emotional, hoping to conquer Naraku with a passionate charge, though their leaders knew better. This conflict wouldn't end in such a way.

But their seconds couldn't understand. "Charging into a fight?! Sesshomaru, they attacked Kagome on the street! They were trying to kill her!" Ayame protested, leaping to her feet and bracing her hands on the table. Her knuckles were growing white, as were her cheeks; the stress of these events were showing on the faces of every core member.

"Damn straight, that bastard Naraku deserves death," Hakkaku agreed, eyes shining with conviction.

"And I couldn't agree more, but this is not the time nor the issue over which we need to fight this out," Sesshomaru replied levelly. He removed the cigarette from his lips and blew out a thin cloud of smoke. "There are other things restraining us."

"Fuck that! For Kagome's sake, we need to get these bastards off the street!" Hiten yelled with a deep conviction.

Bankotsu shook his head slightly; his best friend since childhood obviously didn't understand, but he wasn't ready to speak his piece yet. No, Bankotsu would wait until the right moment to calm his second in command.

"Who knows what might've happend if Gan hadn't been around," Ayame reminded the group, green eyes glittering with malice. "Naraku is too dangerous; we can't leave him alone anymore."

"Aya, Shomo's right. We ain't gettin' ourselves into a fight right now," Ranbou said soberly from his position on the couch. He was chain smoking and had been for well over an hour; there were numerous black smears on the floor at his feet, the unholy remains of his nine cigarettes.

But Kouga growled slightly and practically erupted with, "But that's what we always say! 'It's not time to fight,' or 'we'll see what happens.' This is one time when we need to charge! Fuck, they practically killed her, Bo!"

"We need more of a platform before we attack," Sesshomaru murmured around his cigarette; his amber eyes were unfocused on the concrete floor some fifty feet ahead.

This brought more squeals of outrage before Rin glanced up and said quietly, "Sesshy, maybe they're right, I mean Kago-"

"KAGOME WHAT?!" Sesshomaru yelled unexpectedly, rocketing out of his seat as the cigarette fell, rough and tumble, to his feet. His normally subdued eyes were alight with anger and the fangs in his mouth seemed all the more apparent in the vague lighting. His muscles were tense and drawn, his skin pale; everything about him exuded his anxiety. "What were you going to say about Kagome just now?"

The Fang leader pushed away from the couch and began pacing, footsteps loud and frightening as they ricocheted off the warehouse walls. "I keep on hearing the name 'Kagome' in this argument, but all of you seem to be forgetting something rather important about her."

Sesshomaru turned and stared levelly down at the other leaders and seconds, who were stunned by this intense and passionate display; it was rare that Sesshomaru was passionate about anything. He only snorted, reaching into his pocket for another cigarette. "She's not a member of the gangs. Any of them. We can't go charging into a gang war over a girl who isn't even a member of the gangs, it's nonsense. Despite the fact that she's a perfectly nice girl and a real asset to us, on and off the street, she's not officially one of us. Furthermore, this is Naraku's way of trying to lure us into a fight, a heated, _emotional _fight, in which he will no doubt get the better of us. He's probably been planning this for weeks, if not months. When you fight with passion, you fight to die. I refuse to go into a fight on the premise of a prideful death. To top this all off, we have no conclusive evidence, besides the words of three witnesses, that the Scorpions confessed to the Spider's guilt in planting the bombs under our vehicles at Race Wars. This is all too vague, too unsure, and none of it will get us anywhere but below the ground!"

At these numerous and painful reminders, the others lowered their heads and refused to meet Sesshomaru's gaze, which was drifting ominously around the circle, boring holes into heads. Rin glanced up, eyes bitter and betrayed. "How could you say something like that? Not one of us? Kago-" But she found herself cut off once again.

"And who's fault is that Rin?!" Sesshomaru demanded fiercely, turning his amber eyes to meet Rin's brown ones. The girl's lip seemed to tremble as she sat there, realizing just how true these words were, before looking away from Sesshomaru's sparkling eyes. They were just too terrifying to look at. Besides that, they seemed to be digging up a guilt which could only grow worse in her gut.

"She's not one of us because why?!" Sesshomaru pried, taking a few steps towarsd his girlfriend, silver hair cascading around his impressive form. "Because you've seen fit to string her along for a summer and use her for your own devices. You've kept her coming back with the hope of being offered a place in the core, but you never fulfilled that. Don't deny it."

"I didn't use her," was all Rin could mumble as tears began unconciously clouding her vision; she hadn't planned on crying in the middle of a gang meeting, as she intended to keep face as the only girl, but it just couldn't be helped. She'd never felt worse in her life; her cousin Kagome, whom she'd known since their birth, was precious and dear to her. Rin would never do anything to hurt Kagome, not conciously. Despite this fact, Rin couldn't deny Sesshomaru's accusations for, indeed, she'd strung Kagome along. But she hadn't used her, had she?

"Keep telling yourself that," Sesshomaru spat angrily, amber eyes flashing a dangerous gold. "Keep telling yourself you would've gotten out of Dragon territory alive without her."

Rin and Ayame's heads shot up at these words and both seemed alarmed, eyes wide and mouths agape; how did Sesshomaru know? They'd kept the incident underwraps and, as far as they knew, only the five girls present at the time knew anything about Kagome shooting for their release from captivity. The Dragons had no reason to tell and most barely remembered their drunken escapades that night anyway. Ryuukoytsusei didn't benefit from telling, so he likewise kept it quiet. Or so they'd thought.

"Oh, that's right, I know all about that," Sesshomaru said again, raising his voice as the girls hung their heads in shame. "You'd be surprised how much a Dragon will talk with claws at his throat." Rin gulped; she should've known Sesshomaru would try something like that.

"And you can't just induct her now so that we can go to war, Sesshomaru continued, only to be interrupted by Kouga.

"Why the hell not?" Kouga demanded, pounding his fist on the bar.

Sesshomaru glanced over at Ranbou, saying quietly, "You know what that's called, don't you Ranbou? You've got a taste for law."

"Ex post facto," came Ranbou's hoarse response. "Convicting a criminal with a law that wasn't in effect during their crime."

"Precisely," Sesshomaru seemed to muse, growing almost bitterly smug as he braced his hands on the table, gripping the edge so tightly he almost lost feeling in his fingers. "If and when we do this, we have to do it the right way."

Rin watched the muscles of his back as light played across them, taking strange shadows as the rain continued pounding on the uppermost glass windows. He was tense, alive with anger, anxious from the nearness of conflict. She hated seeing Sesshomaru like this and, more so, hated the fact she'd caused his pain. Rin held herself fully accountable for this mess, at this point in time. If only she'd just thrown away ideas of Kikyo, who she knew in her heart of hearts would never return. Why couldn't she just trust herself enough to make another appointment to the core? Why couldn't Rin ever let her emotion subside? A tear slipped down Rin's cheek, quickly followed by another of similar nature; small, clear and perfect.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes as the scent of Rin's tears accosted his nostrils. He hated it when Rin cried, more than the pain of one thousand deaths, but he couldn't comfort her now. She had to sort out this problem on her own and not even he could help her; the time had come for Rin to stand alone.

"I've got to make a phone call," Sesshomaru murmured, whipping out his cell phone as he walked tersely towards the shop area, desperate to escape the tense air which currently crushed his lungs.

The numbers felt dull under his thumb as Sesshomaru dialed a familiar number, one which he'd memorized for just such an occassion. He felt a calm wash over him in a momentary saving grace as he inhaled yet another cigarette, but the effect was short lived; soon, the anxiety had returned, crawling under his skin, creeping up his spine.

"Arru, this is Skull."

Sesshomaru squeezed his eyes shut, methodically massaging the bridge of his nose; the caustic sound of the Arabunna word for "hello" met Sesshomaru's ears and he almost smiled. Even after leaving Australia behind, both Skull and Bones refused to let their knowledge of Arabunna die. They weren't even members of the tribe, but it fascinated them to no end; two years in South Australia growing hectares and they considered themselves honorary Arabunna tribesmen.

But the smile died on Sesshomaru's lips; he couldn't keep a smile for long, these days. "Skull, its Sesshomaru."

"Oh, alright then Shomo?"

"No," Sesshomaru said quietly, almost feeling guilty for destroying Skull's cheerful attitude. "Kagome was attacked downtown by Kaijinbou and some of Naraku's men today."

The line was silent for a moment before Skull's voice returned, generously sobered. "Is she okay?"

"Rattled and bruised, but physically alright. I'm not sure about mentally; but Gan the Gun walked by and managed to get her out of whatever trouble she was in. Not without a price though; Gan was very injured."

"What the- what is going on down there, Sesshomaru?" Skull demanded, sounding completely aghast by these proceedings.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Sesshomaru replied, glancing at the upper windows; the rain had yet to subside. "I need Mad Max on the line, if you could."

In Kyoto, the weather was just as bad, if not worse. Due to the inlet on which the city sat, strange winds blew in with the outskirts of Tokyo's storms and the winds were blowing against the Jackrabbit bungalow in a threatening mantra, causing the walls to creak and moan on their columns. Benkan Bones ran a restless hand through his cherry red spikes, watching as his best friend, Tobi Skull answered his cell phone with a practice flick of his wrist. Since the storm had set in eight hours prior, none of the Jackrabbits had left the bungalow and, in kind, a tense air was brewing.

Axle turned his sky blue head to face Tobi, eager for a distraction even if it was merely a phone call. "Arru, this is Skull. Oh, alright then Shomo? Is she okay? What the- what is going on down there, Sesshomaru?!"

As Tobi spoke with Sesshomaru, he grew increasingly alarmed until he'd actually risen from his chair, golden cross glimmering against his naked chest. "Max? He's right here, whatcha want him for?"

At his name, Fucking Mad Max glanced up with his beady black eyes, gnarled face contorted with boredom. He was lounging in a hammock, which was strung high across one of the many broad doorways in the Jackrabbit bungalow, newly earned Jackrabbit jacket slung across a chair in the corner. After his dismissal from the Scorpions, Max was quick to accept Skull and Bones' invitation into the Jackrabbits. He was content, now, to just relax into life, away from the prying eyes of a wondering world. He could mourn his bitter life in peace on the Kyoto inlet.

Until Sesshomaru called, awakening him from a blurry two week daze, that is.

Max furrowed his brow. "Wot's he want to talk with me for?"

Skull shrugged, tossing the cellphone towards the hammock; Max caught it deftly and pressed it confusedly to his ear. "Hallo?"

"Max. It's Sesshomaru."

"Got that much, mate, whatcha want?"

Sesshomaru sighed tiredly, a sound which Max hadn't heard in all his time knowing the Fang leader. "Some Spiders roughed up Kagome today and we wanted to know if you knew anything at all about Naraku's plans. I know you weren't exactly in the inner circle of the Scorpions, but anything would help. Anything."

Though Max gave a derisive snort, his eyes narrowed slightly at the news of Kagome's condition and he barked rather sharply, "Like fuck I know anything about those bastards and their plans. I make it my business to keep better fuckin' company, oi? All I know is that Naraku wants Salter so bad he can fuckin' taste it; and he's got plans. Bootleg never said much bout the crazy bastard, 'cept to kiss ass." Max was silent for a moment, palming the top of his mohawk as he swung restlessly in the hammock; he seemed to be considering something. Axle narrowed his yellow demon eyes and watched his best friend of nearly fifteen years; Max knew more than he was saying. Max continued after a moment's thought. "I will tell you this much, mate. That weapon's factory that got pilfered three months back? That wasn't no coincidence, if you catch my drift."

Sesshomaru narrowed his own yellow eyes. "What do mean by that?"

"They can't overpower you with numbers or brute fuckin' force, so they got some added insurance with those stolen weapons. They might know a bit bout em now, but they're plans for those fuckin' weird guns revolved around one guy; Gan the Gun. He's the only one who knows enough bout guns to actually figure those motherfuckers out. They're pointless now," Max explained, clearing some wax out of his ear with his pointer finger, looking positively bored.

Sesshomaru mulled over this for a moment before murmuring, "Why wouldn't Gan and Akago say anything about that?"

"Because it's fuckin' pointless; probably didn't cross their fuckin' minds cause Naraku can't use the weapons now. Unless they have someone else who knows enough about guns to help 'em out..." Max trailed off, hoping Sesshomaru caught his hint well enough. Max knew that, despite his break from the Scorpions, incriminating evidence appearing out of thin air would mean trouble for the Jackrabbits. Bootleg would know Max was involved and that would be the end of everyone's perfect lives.

There was silence on the line until Sesshomaru hissed, "Shit, Kagome."

"Bingo," Max murmured, sighing to himself and cracking a wild grin. "I guess ya found it out, ay mate?"

"Thank you, Max. I won't forget this," Sesshomaru said gratefully, massaging his forehead; this explained at least part of Naraku's desire to gain Kagome as an ally. Even if it was by force. "I need to talk to Skull."

Without a word of parting, Max threw the phone to Tobi, who happened to be looking at the storm through a crease in the wood-board window planks. At the last moment, his hand reached out and clenched around the phone without the aid of his sight; he was still focused on the storm. Bones smiled to himself as he watched his impetuous and loud friend perform such an easy feat; however much Skull played around, his abilities were unmatched. He was quicker on his feet than anyone in the gangs, except for maybe Kouga; Benkan doubted if they would ever race though. They didn't particularly want to know who was better.

"Arru," Tobi said dully.

"Skull, I've got a favor to ask you," Sesshomaru saif stiffly; he hated asking favors. "I know this isn't your problem, but..."

As Sesshomaru continued talking, Tobi nodded occasionally, still seeming focused on the raging winds and waters when, in reality, his brain was moving a mile a minute. He considered Sesshomaru's proposition momentarily before he replied, "Sounds like a plan, mate. I owe you anyway. Right then, ja ne."

Skull closed the phone and placed it inside his pocket, crossing his arms on the window sill as he continued storm watching. Benkan and Axle exchanged glances while Max seemed genuinely uninterested in the mysterious conversation. Finally, Benkan piped up, "Oi, Skull."

"Yeah, Bones?"

"Wha'd Shomo want just now?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, go grab Kotone and get her to put together ten Jackrabbits who can win a decent fight. Well, on second thought," the blonde murmured, turning his sky blue eyes to assess those in the room, "Make that four. Counting her, Kinanme and us, that's six, right? Then get four more; we're only taking ten."

Benkan blinked, exchanging another confused glance with Axle. "Wait, come again? What are you on about?"

"We're going to Tokyo, Bones, get with it!" came Skull's flippant reply as he yawned and streched backwards like a sly cat. "We all owe Shomo an arm, a leg and our first born kid anyways, so why not pay off some debt now?"

"Sounds better than this fucking city," Max said, partly to the others and partly to himself, giving his general consent.

Axle fingered the beads at the end of his sky blue cornrows, eager to occupy his restless hands. "Skull, I hate to break up your party, but who says Kotone and Kinanme will go to Tokyo? They're here for a reason, right? Away from their family?"

Before Skull could reply to this astute observation, a gruff, female voice interrupted from the doorway. "Yeah, who says I'll go?"

Sighing, Skull turned to greet the newcomer, dreading the verbal beating he was no doubt about to receive. Confronting him was a girl of slight build with a generously proportioned chest, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt, obviously pajamas of some kind. Her hair was a midnight black, flowing about her in a silken array, but the most peculiar thing were her eyes. A pair of ice blue eyes. On the pulse of her right wrist, one could clearly make out the depiction of a wolf, teeth barred, looking fierce with a symbol behind its head. The symbol read "Ookami."

"Kina, my tropical flower, we were just talking about you!" Skull picked up after a moment, trying to ignore Kina's pulsing forehead and angrily clenched teeth.

"So I could hear from my bedroom, you bastard! Volunteering me to go to Tokyo? Are there fuckin' bats in yer belfry?" the girl said with a distinct gruff tone, one which caused chills to run down many a spine.

Skull pretended to think about the question before replying, "Not that I know of, but there might be kangaroos, in all honesty."

Benkan muffled laughter into his shoulder, trying not to envoke Kina's wrath. She looked positively livid as her ice blue eyes began to turn a threatening cobalt. "I've made it fuckin' clear to you that I ain't goin' to Tokyo until after graduation! What the hell would I go fer anyway?!"

Before Skull could say something stupid, Max chuckled from his position in the hammock and replied darkly, "For the sake of your brothers, poppet. Naraku's makin' his move. And the Fangs aren't ready."

Kina's small face went blank as she stood in the doorway in nothing but her t-shirt, brow furrowed cutely in a way that made Skull wince. He'd been a good boy and let her nap all afternoon, but that face made him want to let go of any resolve he had left and take her, furiously, right in the doorway. Bones glanced over at his blonde friend, whose eyes were angled upwards as he crossed his tan, brawny arms across his chest. Maybe if he ignored the beautiful girl, she would go away.

"Ko and Ran don't need our help and I can guarantee that Sesshomaru wouldn't take it," she replied cockily, shaking her head at Max's stupidity.

But this time Bones answered her cheek. "He asked for it, Kina. We're going on a request."

The room was silent as Kinanme's mouth fell partially open, growing dry as she wondered how this could possibly be true. The Sesshomaru she'd grown up with as a child wouldn't accept help from anyone, except for Kouga on the very rare occassion, but he certainly never asked for it. The Fangs had to be in a dire situation if he was asking the Jackrabbits for back-up. But she couldn't just go charging back to Tokyo, offering her long lost brothers a brief greeting before turning around and beating Kagura to a bloody pulp; she'd never liked that filthy whore anyway.

But...she couldn't just let them flounder on the shore like that. Not her brothers.

"Whatever you want, doesn't matter to me. I guess I'm in, no choice," Kina muttered, glancing down at the floor as her cheeks blushed a brilliant red. For some reason, the thought of seeing Ranbou again made her want to cry. She would never cry, of course. That was lunacy. But she wanted to.

Skull's perverted expression softened and he crossed the distance between them, reaching out his calloused hands and rubbing her upper arms soothingly. "S'alright, Sheila, sorry this had to spring up."

Kina just grunted, unwilling to remove her gaze from the floor. "Yeah, 'sucks."

The brawny blonde gave a small smile and lovingly kissed the top of her head, causing Max to screw up his already gnarled face in disgust. He couldn't stand watching couples interract like that; it always made him ill, even when they'd been going out for two years like Skull and Kinanme. _I oughter be used to it by fuckin' now, _he thought to himself wryly.

"Well then," Skull said loudly, interrupting Max's thoughts. "Looks like s'off to Tokyo for us! Bones, get a hold of Kotone, let her know the situation and get it all in order. I'm counting on you, mate."

Bones only gave his friend the thumbs up before whipping out his own cellphone, rising and moving towards the window. The zippers and trinkets on his pants jingled as he went, mingling with his deep voice as he received an answer on the line. "Koto?"

Skull nodded to himself as he unconciously continued rubbing Kinanme's shoulders. Though this wasn't exactly perfect timing, he supposed he could deal with a break from Kyoto life for at least a moment. _Besides, _he thought with a fierce grin, _who am I to say no to a fight?_

**Yo.**

**I finished this one in pretty good time. Sorry about the new characters; you probably hate that. I've been talking about them, you just didn't know their names. But now you do. I doubt you'll remember, though, and its okay if you don't. This is all gonna go on more in depth in the next chapters. Fighting essentially starts in the next chapter, so be ready. Thanks to all my reviewers, especially the ones who threaten my well-being if updates are withheld. It's quite the motivator, lol.**

**Ja ne.**

**KOLU**


	29. It Begins

**And here we go with next exciting installment of LDTL! Lol, so cheesy. This is an intense chapter and I do it the same way I did Inuyasha's transformation scene in chapter 13, with a flashback that is. Read on!**

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch, unconciously twisting his magnificent silver mane into a bun at the top of his head. The heat was absolutely smoldering and he could feel sweat dripping down his back, staining the couch as he sat there. Supposedly, this day set a record in Tokyo history for the hottest day recorded in July, a Saturday no less. Sesshomaru wished it might've come at a different time, as he was currently trying to bring an important meeting to order; the fact that the burning sun would most likely distract everyone was null and void. This was an important gathering.

Tentatively, the Fang leader cracked open one golden eye and examined those around him; Kouga and Ayame were sitting beside one another on the couch to his right, refusing to touch one another in the 107 degree weather. Rin sat beside him, fanning herself as a drop of sweat rolled down her brow. Ranbou seemed to be asleep as Hakkaku, who sat beside his leader, twiddled his thumbs nervously. Bankotsu seemed impervious to the heat and completely unaffected, if not for the absence of his shirt, though Hiten seemed to be struggling mightily as he too attempted to do something more cooling with his heavy black hair.

Narrowing his eyes, Sesshomaru sat forward and allowed his eyes to roam around the circle for the second time. Finally, he murmured, "Where are Akago and Gan?"

Several glances were exchanged around the circle before Ayame replied, "I haven't seen them since this morning."

Kouga narrowed his own eyes, muttering, "They went out to lunch, said they'd be back in time."

This, however, didn't ease Sesshomaru's nerves; Akago and Gan were never late to anything. Ever. "Someone call them."

Rin shrugged and withdrew her cell phone, only to be violently cut off as shouting erupted from the front of the warehouse. Wrenches clattered to the floor and urgent footsteps sprinted outside, crunching on the gravel, as yelling orders broke the summer silence. Rin and Sesshomaru exchanged glances before rising and hurrying to see to the melee. Kouga gulped; his bad gut feeling was validated. He could barely make out Akago Tsume carrying the limp body of Gan the Gun on his back, blood trickling down both bodies in a startling contrast on pale skin. Obviously lunch hadn't gone well.

_**One Hour Prior**_

"Oh God, are you mixing your macarroni and cheese with your corn now? You are. That's disgusting, Akago, thank you for reminding me why I hate eating with you.

Akago laughed heartily as Gan scrunched up his stately face, violet eyes twinkling even as he made a grunting sound. His pale cheeks had grown slightly red and green around the edges as he watched his leader eating, mixing together everything on his plate without discrimination. Akago's crimson eyes seemed to dance as he took a forkful of the macarroni, corn, broccoli and mashed potatoes, holding it at a threateningly close distance from Gan's nose.

"Look, Gan! Fully four different foods on one fork!"

Gan leaned backwards against the booth, nose wrinkled with distaste. "Ugh, gross! They separate them on the plate for a reason, you know! Congratulations on making a perfectly good meal look like...like...sheep vomit!"

Distracted momentarily, Akago furrowed his brow and replied dazedly, "Did you say sheep vomit? Where on earth did you come up with that analogy?"

Gan was too busy inching away from the outstretched fork to truly bother with his answer. "Well, grass, acids, sheep wool, they're the same colors, anyway."

It was Akago's turn to scrunch up his nose as he replaced his fork on his plate, murmuring, "I think I've lost my appetite."

Gan smirked and allowed his shoulders to relax, shrugging off his Shark's jacket and readjusting his arms inside his baggy black shirt. "That's right, take that! Can't eat your disgusting home-made casserole now, can you?"

Akago smiled as his second picked up his own meal of a medium-rare hamburger, eating it rather daintily with small bites and the dabbing of a napkin. In all the time Akago had known Gan, the boy ate politely and used excellent table manners, a fact which seemed rather misplaced. Of course, Akago knew Gan was polite in absolutely everything he did, save a few moments when he'd taken it upon himself to discipline unruly Sharks with his fists like a street thug. Normally he could silence them with mere strong words, but othertimes he had to resort to common violence. Akago smiled at the irony of his thoughts; he who lived the life of a low class gang leader, was calling himself common and a number of other unsavory terms inadvernantly. Of course, he knew what he was and he enjoyed it. A guilty pleasure, he supposed.

Gan's voice disturbed Akago's thoughts as he blinked and refocused on his second in command, who was chewing thoughtfully as he spoke. "I've noticed a change in Ryuukoytsusei."

The topic was spur-of-the-moment, but heavy, the sort of thing Gan picked out of the air at random to talk about over lunch. Akago was used to these sudden changes in conversation and shrugged. "What kind of change?"

"He's just seemed less like an animal," Gan replied, shrugging his own thin shoulders as he glanced up at Akago with large violet eyes.

Akago seemed to consider this for a moment before he replied, "Well, I've had my own thoughts about that lately. And I don't want to seem ridiculous or like I'm pulling this out of the air, so just go with me, alright?" Gan nodded as he chewed, open to any ideas his leader could come up with. Akago continued, "I think he might be in love."

Gan felt the hamburger turning to ash in his mouth as he looked up at Akago, who was glancing wistfully out the window at the beach. "Ryuu? In love? Akago, that is absolutely the most revolting thing I've heard all day and I wish you'd waited to pop that out until _after _lunch."

Pretending not to notice Gan's disgust, Akago continued, "He's displaying all the symptoms of love, really. Trailing off in the middle of sentences, growing increasingly un-violent, questioning his personal identity."

"Questioning his personal identity? When the hell did he do that?"

"In any case, I think he's pretty far gone. The question is this: far gone on who?" Akago murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Gan's face was the picture of sourness. "On _whom _actually and I'm still not convinced that anything 'lovely' is going on in his sick, bloodthirsty mind. What exactly gave you this idea?"

"I told you, he exhibits the symptoms," Akago replied as though it were obvious.

This only elicited a sigh from Gan, who massaged his forehead plantively. "The symptoms. Right." Deciding he wasn't going to dissuade his leader, Gan threw out, "What about one of the Vixens? Maybe one of them?"

"I don't think the Vixens' own parents love them, Gan, that's a ridiculous idea," Akago replied with a snort of derision.

Gan nodded mildly before saying, "Well, one of the Wildcats then? That would definitely be trouble, but just in case..."

"Perhaps," Akago mused before continuing, "Or he could love someone else in the North, not one of the Vixens, but-"

"Hold on, now," Gan interrupted quickly, holding up a hand. "Everyone else in the North is male. Are you insinuating that Ryuukoytsusei is gay?"

"Gay as in happy or gay as in homosexual?" Akago responded with innocent eyes, earning an eye roll from his second in command.

"I'll assume you were being facetious just now and chalk that up to 'gay as in homosexual.' I hardly think Ryuu is gay." Gan's nose scrunched a few inches upwards for the umpteenth time during that lunch period, causing Akago to raise his carefully sculpted eyebrows.

"What, is there something wrong with being gay?" the Shark leader asked.

Gan blinked blankly, leaning unconciously forward. "A-Akago? Are you...what are you saying?"

It took Akago a moment before he was able to follow Gan's train of thought and he immediately burst out, "No, no, I'm not gay, no, that's not what I'm saying you little twit. I was more, um, wondering if maybe...you know...you..." He trailed off here, regarding Gan with expectant crimson eyes, eyebrows creased slightly in the center.

The blush which spread across Gan's cheeks caused Akago to smother another laugh as the boy gathered himself with dignity, replying starchly, "I have not been, am not, and never will be a homosexual. I am straight as an arrow, thank you."

"I was joking, Gan, joking," Akago replied with a chuckle, eyes twinkling to show that it had, indeed, been a joke. Gan blushed even more furiously as the dread began leaving the pit of his stomach. For a single, solitary moment, he wondered if, after years of concealing his identity, Akago might've found out his secret and was trying to confront him about it. _That would be awful, if he mistakenly thought I was crossdressing because I was really gay. Then I would never have a chance...not that I have one now or anything, or that I could ever-_

Gan found his thoughts violently interrupted as Akago tensed against the table, nearly causing one of the water glasses to tip. The man's crimson eyes, once playful, were now narrowed suspiciously, a few strands of white hair escaping his braid and fluttering across his severe face. Gan narrowed his own eyes in confusion. "Akago? What's wrong?"

It took Akago a few moments to respond and he drew in a breath, replying in a surprisingly level tone, "We're surrounded on all sides by people who wish us ill. They're at almost every exit and entrance in this restaurant."

The blood drained quickly from Gan's flushed face, leaving it a pale white, and he tightened his grip on the table's edge. He knew they wouldn't reside in peace for long and it had already been three days since the previous attack; obviously Naraku was ready to finish the job. Gan knew the Spider leader was bitter about the Sharks' departure, not because of loyalty or something as ridiculous as that, but because Gan was their key to unlocking the secret of their mysterious guns. Obviuosly, Naraku was a victim of the "if I can't know, no one can" mentality. Gan's stomach gave a leap; Naraku's men must be there to kill him.

"Shit. I should've known," Gan muttered to himself.

Akago noticed the look in Gan's violet eyes and said quietly, "The guns. I'm glad we're on a similar train of thought. In that case, we better go quickly because I can't afford to lose you and I mean that on several levels."

Gan's breath caught in his throat as he met Akago's eyes, wondering if such a comment could possibly validate his deepest desire. Yet Akago was up and moving before Gan could truly decode his leader's mysterious gaze and, soon, the boy found his small wrist encompassed by Akago's lily white hand. "Don't freeze up on me, Gan, we've got to move. What's worse, we need to move it away from all of these innocent people."

Snapping back to life, Gan glanced around the diner at the numerous filled booths, some with blithely laughing children, and he gulped; he certainly didn't want these nice people caught up in his fight.

After throwing down cash on the table, enough to consitute the payment and a generous tip, Akago drug Gan towards the back and the two made their way quickly through the kitchen, trying to ignore the outraged shouts of the cook as they ran. Soon, they'd exited the restaurant and were running through the back alley, listening as footsteps followed at their backs. Gan turned momentarily to look behind them and found seven Dragons at their back, all looking ready to initiate and finish a fight. Letting out a curse, Gan was about to face forward when he came to an abrupt halt, Akago's strong arm catching him in the chest. The boy felt his breath escaping in a breeze; there were another seven Dragons at their front.

The Dragons quickly formed a circle around the leader and his second, several of them cracking their knuckles and preparing for a fight. Gan and Akago moved until they were back to back, both noticing the other's inevitably quickened hearbeat. "Gan?"

"Yes?"

"If you have a chance to run, take it. If it get's bad enough, I'll have to resort to Satsu-hakucho. Then you really must leave. Do you understand?" the albino man replied smoothly, a passing ocean breeze ruffling his snow white braid and bangs.

Gan's eyes widened visibly at his leader's instructions and he nearly turned to regard him when he remembered the 14 Dragons surrounding them on all sides. The violet-eyed boy knew quite well what this "Satsu-hakucho" was and he'd only seen it used once. It was the manifestation of Akago's mind reading abilities, which the demon released in the most dire of fights. Everytime he released the Satsu-hakucho, which allowed him to access abilities such as telekenisis and teleportation, his internal organs grew significantly weaker. The strain on his body, though he was demon, was just too much.

"Absolutely not, Akago, you're not using Satsu-hakucho, no matter how bad this gets," the boy protested, teeth gritted as he removed a pistol from his jacket's inside pocket. "I'll kill them all myself."

"Do and I'll dismiss you!" Akago replied harshly, crimson eyes flickering dangerously.

Gan cowered slightly at the words; Akago had never threatened him with such a sentence, but he knew the leader spoke the truth. Quietly, the boy cocked back the gun and said, "Fine. But I won't just leave if-"

"You will do as your told, Gan! This is a direct order!" Akago snarled, shaking his head furiously as he released his claws with a chink. Several of the Dragons exchanged glances, for Akago Tsume was not known to release his claws, as he found it particularly brutal and violent. Being torn apart with demon claws was a terrible way to die, he believed, but obviously this situation warranted strict measures.

"Enough talk," one of the Dragons growled shortly. "We have orders from Naraku to kill you."

"Since when did Dragons take orders from Naraku?" Gan asked confusedly, raising the gun to a ready position as the remainder of the Dragons released their claws and readied their weapons.

"That's none of your business, Gun," the Dragon replied, obviously uninterested by Gan's confusion.

Without another word, this so-called leader raised his grimy claws and charged forward only to be met with a stun-bullet in his arm. He staggered momentarily on his feet, only to find himself falling forward against the apathetic shoulder of Gan the Gun. The Dragon groaned and fell lifelessly to the ground as the stunning-solution circulated throughout his bloodstream, rendering him paralyzed and unconcious. Gan's face grew eerily pleased, a dangerous glimmer sparkling in his violet eyes as a small smile lighted his face.

"Who's next?"

The other Dragons took this as their cue to charge and they did so eagerly, more wary than their leader had been of Gan's impressive marksmanship. Before Gan could blink, the demons were upon him and at too close range for gun usage; he'd forgotten the many disadvantages to being human. Releasing another violent curse, the boy aimed a swift kick at one Dragon's gut and pushed his momentum into the hit, swinging himself around full circle to catch the Dragon the his right with a foot in the face. Both victims grunted but soon retaliated, aided by the third Dragon, as they all turned on Gan and began throwing their heavy fists weightedly around.

Behind Gan, Akago was fending off the other ten Dragons, who had formed a second circle around him and were eagerly taking turns attacking him in threes. Akago grunted as someone caught him in the jaw with a well executed uppercut and again as a passing leg crashed into his gut. The Shark leader flew sideways, managing to catch himself on the alley wall; breathing heavily, he turned to observe this particular assailant, who grinned sadistically, flexing his arms. By the green tint of his skin, Akago was able to identify this man as Kawazu, the Frog Demon Fighter. Though Akago had never personally dealt with the man, he'd heard tale of Kawazu, who could dispatch of a man with a single kick.

Before Akago could analyze this any further, Kawazu was upon him again, moving with the fascinating agility of his namesake. Akago defended himself admirably, managing to dodge every kick aimed his way. _This isn't so bad, _he thought to himself, ducking to avoid another deadly leg, _I could fend him off for a while, I think. _

But it wasn't to be. A startled shout alerted Akago's attention to Gan, who flew backwards into the alley wall with a disgusting "thud." The boy slid downward, cradling one of his arms which was not only bleeding profusely from Kaijinbo's still fresh claw wounds, but also bent strangely near the shoulder. Three Dragons surrounded Gan's fallen body, obviously preparing to finish the job.

"Gan!" Akago shouted, making as though to rush to the boy's aid.

A rough snort interrupted his flight. "Never look away, Tsume."

Fire ripped through Akago's chest as a powerful leg caught him sharply in the upper torso, stealing his breath and ability to move in one fell swoop. Akago gasped, unable to scream as an unbearable pain engulfed him; tears squeezed from his eyes as lay on the concrete, begging the atmosphere for air. He began to cough, a wretching sort of hack, which propelled blood from his mouth, leaving some to drip down his pale white face as more stained the brick of the alley wall. _No, _he thought blankly as his vision began to fade. He could almost hear someone screaming his name, though it hardly mattered now. _I can't die like this. I can't have been made just to die like this. There has to be more for me. Besides, Gan..._He coughed again, this time bringing vomit with it.

As Akago threw up on the alley floor, preparing for one of the Dragons to deliver to final blow, he thought to himself, _So we were wrong. They can't have wanted Gan, or I would've been fending off three and him ten, not vice versa. They were most definitely after me, if not both of us. Damn, there's so much blood...that kick must've torn the wall of my lung. I suppose this time I really will die. The both of us have cheated death for all these years...not this time. I can still feel Gan's life force pulsing; he's alive and not about to die any time soon. Once I'm dead, he'll just shoot these bastards. I can die in peace without using the Satsu-Hakucho._

As Akago fell to the ground, gasping and coughing with a gross wetness in his throat, Gan felt a scream tearing through his throat. "No! Akago!" Though Gan had thought himself unable to move, a sudden power encapsulated in his legs and he pushed himself to his feet, withdrawing the pistol from his jacket pocket. He knew Akago had ordered him not to kill the fourteen assailants, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Tears sprang unbidden to Gan's eyes as he cocked back the released and delivered three perfectly aimed shots, all into the heart of a Dragon assailant. _I won't care if he dismisses me as long as he's still alive._

Gan had no time to observe the dead bodies of his opponents and only turned to the side, holding the pistol shakily in his left hand. With his right hand out of commission, he only had one shooting hand left and his aim wasn't nearly as good. There were ten Dragons surrounding Akago's fallen body and one of them was holding a pistol, preparing to deliver the final shot. _No. _

The breath caught in Gan's throat as he pushed himself to his feet, running with the force of twenty bullets, all crashing down upon one point in space.

_No. He can't..._

The strength with which Gan broke through the circle of Dragons could only be attributed to the desperation squeezing his body together, the burning in his chest, the burning red which engulfed his mind, making it impossible for him to see or think.

_No. He can't..._

Gan was vaguely aware of the sharp sound of a shot as it tore through the alleyway, accompanied shortly by a burning in his lower back; he knew the bullet had impacted the left side of the flesh protecting his spine, most likely striking the Iliac Crest in his pelvic bone. It didn't really matter, he realized, as he fell to the ground, blood flowing freely from numerous cuts on his body, including those on his arm, many on his stomach, and the new one on his back. It might've looked poetic, streaming red against the brick black of the city, but no one who cared could see it.

_No. He can't die._

Gan lay there, life draining out of him and taking his senses with it. He couldn't see or hear, couldn't smell or feel. All he really senationalize was that resounding mantra in his head. _He can't die, he can't die. If I'm not alive to save him, he'll die. He can't die without knowing the truth. Gan the Gun was never real...this life has been a fantasy. Please forgive me, Akago. I could never tell you...now we'll die together and you'll find the truth in the afterlife. _

But Gan found himself cut short. A pulse thundered through his chest, followed by another. It was like a giant's heartbeat, loud, full and enraged, alive in its own right. Though his sense of physical feel was dead, Gan knew another tear had slipped down his cheek as Misaki found her way to the surface, rekindling in death. That pulse could only mean one thing and Misaki remembered it well from the only other time she'd seen it. _Akago, you didn't. _

Akago couldn't say what took over him as he lay there, watching Gan crash to the ground in a heap as blood streamed out behind him like life strings. He couldn't remember the thoughts which ran through his head, nor the rage and emptiness he felt; feeling had lost its fulfillment and Akago was past self-satisfaction at this point, past the notion of feeling just to seem alive. Thoughts and feelings meant nothing as he whispered, "_Hato, chuushin, zouo, chikyuu, seinen...,"_ beginning the incantation to relase the Satsu-Hakucho. If Gan lived, he could die a murderer with blood on his hands at will. The Satsu-Hakucho was cruel, but letting Gan die was much crueler.

"_Umi no shio no shinju no sakeme no kizu no chi no tsubasa ha watashi no souchi ni." _Akago rose to his feet, body engulfed by an eerie silver light as the wounds on his body began to slow in their relentless bleeding, diminishing to nothing but a mere trickle. The Dragons had realized, at this point, that something in this situation had taken a turn for the worst. Several turned and began to flee, dropping their weapons without a thought, but they didn't get far.

"_Kono chikara wo kaihou **SURU!**" _

A pulsing emmited from this last word, sending waves of power through the alleyway and startling the remainder of the Dragons into motion. Kawazu let loose with a mighty jump, which sent him some twenty feet into the air as though he meant to flee. A force seemed to interrupt his flight and he glanced down, wide-eyed, at Akago Tsume, who's left hand was pocketed and right hand was outstretched, fingers clenching as it controlled Kawazu's movements. Without another word, Kawazu the Frog Demon Fighter met his end as he crashed into the top of a brick building, body exploding like a broken garbage bag upon impact.

The other Dragons had begun to run quickly from the scene of the crime, though they were jerked backwards as power clung to their jackets and up through their necks.

"_Hijouni atsui shibou_."

The eight Dragons caught in this assault spontaneously burst into flame, fire sprouting from the skin and licking their hair, melting the flesh from their bones as they screamed in agony. It was no normal fire which consumed them, but they died in a twenty second hell. As burning bodies fell in charred corpses to the alley floor, Akago turned his attention to the last of the Dragons, who he'd neglected to include in his hijouni atsui shibou.

"_Chiri."_

The Dragon didn't even utter a sound as his body turned to dust from the head down to his toes, leaving his clothes behind in a crumpled mess on the alley floor. The dust blew away on the wind along with flame and blood, which collected there from Akago's many murders.

Aching had begun to encompass Akago's gut and he realized it stemmed not from Kawazu's kick, but from the extended use of his Satsu-hakucho. "_Watashi wo kaihou shinasai."_

The pulsing stopped abruptly as the glow began to slowly dissipate, leaving in its wake an Akago stained with blood and pain. The white haired boy felt the organs inside his chest give a groan and he sighed, breath hitching as the severity of the kick inflicted on his lungs returned. "Shit."

He managed to stumble over to Gan, who was immobile and cold as he lay there on the ground. Though Akago knew it would most likely take years of his life, he knew that both their survivals depended on his ability to make it to Fang headquarters. The effects of the Satsu-Hakucho hadn't completely worn off and Akago bent down, clutching his hands around Gan's wrists and managing to half pull him onto his back. Praying to Kami that he still had the power left in him, Akago murmured one last incantation, the incantation of teleportation.

"_Hae."_

_**Present time**_

Sesshomaru and Rin stood stock still, staring aghast as Akago barely met eyes with them before collapsing on the ground, blood pooling around both his and Gan's bodies as their lives practically trickled away. Rin found herself practically unable to move as she stood there, blood frozen and mind blank; who in their right minds could inflict such damage on two people like this? It was mortifying the conditions they were in, but she couldn't even manage the twitch of a finger.

It was a mere moment later when Sesshomaru shouted, "Inuyasha, call Kei and Nanashi and tell them to hurry, we've probably got less than half an hour before they're both dead."

Inuyasha had been standing on the outside of the circle with Kagome, both of them covered in grease from a cracked oil compartment. His normally white hair was smudged comically with black, but everything within a ten mile radius seemed to have lost it's humor in that moment. The hanyou could feel Kagome tense beside him as she stared, open mouthed, at Akago and Gan's seemingly dead bodies. He could only grab her hand in his, squeezing it tightly as he withdrew his cell phone and hurriedly dialed that all too familiar number, one which reminded him of suffering and pain.

"Kei, it's Inuyasha. Gan and Akago are here and they're beaten the fuck up, like about to die. They're bleedin' everywhere, you gotta hurry!"

"We're on our way," was the only response Inuyasha got before the line went dead and he relayed the information to his brother.

Sesshomaru nodded vaguely as Inuyasha's alert met his ears and he bent down, examining Gan and Akago's bodies while trying to remain objective in all senses of the word. A gunshot to Gan, along with the assorted cuts and bruises, while Akago seemed to be suffering from not only external but internal injuries. Obviously, this wouldn't be your run of the mill fix.

By the time Kei and Nanashi had arrived, Kagome had realized something very important about this situation; from the look of Gan's shirt, he's been cut not only in the back but the front. This would mean the removal of his shirt and the discovery of his binding bandages, which would then lead to the unwinding of the bandages and the discovery of his womanhood. Kagome knew that, even if such a situation as this, Gan wouldn't want anyone to know; it was his darkest secret and obviously meant to be kept until he was ready to leave Tokyo. As the only one who knew about Gan's true identity, Kagome felt it was her responsibility to help protect her friend from all those who continued without knowing.

In kind, Kagome met Kei and Nanashi in the parking lot of the warehouse when they arrived in Kei's Mercedes, dressed in simple t-shirts and jeans to celebrate their weekends, which were cut short by this incident. Kei's golden hair swung slightly in the wind as he stepped out of the car, green eyes hard with the seriousness of this attack. Nanashi's similarly carefree blue eyes were likewise worried, red curls looking oddly happy surounding the face of someone so sad.

"Kei, Nanashi, I need to tell you something, it's very important. You have to treat Gan away from the others," Kagome said hurriedly, whispering to conceal her message from the demons inside, who would hear her when she spoke at a normal level even from their distance.

Kei paused slightly, prepared to go charging inside the warehouse at any moment. "What? Away from the others?"

"What are you on about?" Nanashi replied, likewise confused and irritated that this girl was keeping them from their job.

"Please, trust me, Gan would give anything to be treated in a separate room," Kagome pleaded, voice so desperate that Kei felt inclined to meet eyes with her. Kagome's brown orbs were dull with desire for the fulfillment of this ridiculous request and he faltered, knowing he couldn't refuse her. Not an honest person like Kagome, especially when she asked like that.

"Done," Kei replied shortly. "Go get the storage room ready, Kagome."

Without a word, Kagome nodded and turned on her heels, sprinting inside the warehouse as her loose-legged overalls fluttered around her. Nanashi and Kei didn't even hesitate as they ran inside the warehouse, stopping at the bodies and assessing them quickly. They began issuing orders, which added to the surreal atmosphere as the others scurried to do their bidding, boiling water on the stove, searching for needles, tongs, and clean rags. The warehouse was a flurry of motion, everyone moving in a molasses-slow world as they mindlessly followed orders. Had their lives really come to this? Had they really been reduced to mere violence? What would become of this world they'd created, this perfectly imperfect world?

As Kagome cleared everything off the table in the storage room and laid down blankets in their place, she felt a sort of numbness take hold of her and she succumbed to it, feeling nothing as she ran outside to help carry pots of boiling water back and forth between the storage room and the lounge area, the table of which had been transformed into a make-shift bed for Akago.

Inuyasha happened to catch sight of Kagome's sightless eyes as she ran past, face a picture of apathy. It hurt his heart to see her in such a state,_ physically _hurt him, but he couldn't possibly stop to help; he was in charge of sterilizing tongs in the boiling water and transporting them to the storage room. Everyone had their jobs and they couldn't stop, if only to help a loved one. They were already helping loved ones...

So who would help the rest of them?

!!!

Never in his life had Kei found breasts less sexual than when his wife unbuttoned the shirt of Gan the Gun and unwraveled the bandages beneath. There they were, two mounds of useless fat, crowned by pink nipples and soft areolas. They weren't abnormally large, in Kei's opinion, but the size wasn't exactly of top priority in this matter.

He, Kagome and Nanashi were the only ones allowed in the storage room, for Nanashi had spit out some excuse about sterilization and forbade the others to enter. Kagome's eyes had warned him outside the warehouse that her reason for separating Gan was valid, but he'd never expected something quite like this. Not in this situation, anyway; for Kei, this wasn't exactly a surprise.

No one said anything for a moment as Kagome stared glumly at the floor, like a child who'd been discovered sneaking cookies from the counter and Nanashi stared close-mouthed at Gan's breasts, which were still not sexual. Perhaps they were simply un-sexual breasts, though Nanashi was fairly sure the sexuality of said breasts had to do with the fact that she'd never imagined them on a man before. And she'd thought Gan the Gun was a man. But he wasn't. He was a she.

"Oh, fuck," Nanashi whined, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing her wallet; she could already vaguely make out Kei's serene smile from across the table. She held out a bill towards her husband.

"Thank you, dear," Kei said smugly, placing the offered bill in his jean pocket.

Kagome watched the exchange blankly, without a thought in her head, before she tentatively squeaked, "Um...what?"

Kei glanced over at the girl with a twinkle in his green eyes, murmuring, "An age old bet, girl. The minute we met that boy, I popped out, 'he's very feminine. Maybe he's a crossdresser.' And look; he is."

Afte a momentary silence, Kagome said quietly, "Um, he's not a crossdresser."

Nanashi gave a shout of triumph holding out her hand and demanding the money back. Kei sighed and did as he was bid. "I told you," Nanashi gloated, "He was gay, not a crossdresser."

But Kagome spoke up again, hands folded in front as she blushed furiously; this was incredibly awkward. "Um, he's not gay either. I mean, she's not gay."

Kei and Nanashi paused, as though unsure what to do with the money, before Kagome said, "She's just in disguise. I don't know why, but she's got her reasons. She's doing it out of necesity, she said."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Kei beckoned Kagome over to the bedside and placed the money in the overall pocket on her chest, somehow managing to do so in a platonic way. "Then I suppose the money's yours, Kagome. You certainly did right by this girl, in any case. You deserve something. Let's get this bullet out, shall we? Akago's fading out there, I'm sure."

"So...what are we gonna do about...ya know," Kagome trailed off, obviously referring to Gan's identity.

Sighing, Kei dipped his hands in the bucket of boiling water, seeming not to mind the heat, and drying them on a nearby towl. "We'll keep her secret the best we can."

With her demon strength, Nanashi easily turned Gan over and examined the bullet wound, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Well, baby, I think you can handle this one. I'm gonna go help the Shark outside, 'kay?"

Smiling slightly, Kei nodded and reached over to grab tweezers from the napkin while murmuring, "Okay, Kagome, I want you to get a rag ready. This is going to be a bit bloody..."

Inuyasha leaned back against the couch and sighed, ticking away the minutes in his head. Kagome and Kei had been extracting the bullet from Gan's back for the past thirty minutes while Nanashi performed makeshift, albeit impressive, surgery on Akago in the kitchen. When they'd done all the could do, the others took to sitting quietly in the lounge area, drinking beers in silence. They were nervous, awkward, and didn't know how to handle this situation. Perhaps the gangs hadn't prepared them for everything after all.

Sesshomaru, who'd been contemplating nothing in particular as he stared blankly at the beer in his right hand, felt a sort of vibrating next to him. He glanced over at Rin, who appeared to be shaking as she sat, legs together, bent over her knees. Sesshomaru sighed and placed his hand on the small of her back in reassurance, rubbing it in soothing circles. He knew this sort of violence bothered Rin, but he had little or no control over violence these days. It seemed to sneak up when he least expected it.

The door to the storage room opened and everyone glanced up, watching as Kagome and Kei came walking out of the room. Kei was toweling off his hands with a tired but relieved smile on his face, though Kagome's face held none of this joy. Her eyes were blank, pupils dilated, as she walked rather robotically towards the couch with her hands limp at her sides. Her shirt was covered in blood, Gan's blood, as were her arms. There were even red smears on her neck.

Inuyasha immediately leapt to his feet and hurried to Kagome's side, taking one of her pale hand in his as he wrapped an arm securely around her waist, never minding the blood. He was afraid she might fall if he didn't hold on to her. "Kagome?"

Kagome glanced up at her boyfriend, noting the concern in his voice, as her dead brown eyes met his amber ones. She began to shake, a motion which began at her knees and traveled up to her shoulders, until tears welled up in her eyes. "He...he...who would do that to a person? It almost hit his spine...almost..."

A choked sob issued from Kagome's mouth and Inuyasha realized the horrific nature of Gan's injuries had taken it's toll on his normally positive and cheerful girl. Without a word, he wrapped Kagome's in his arms, feeling the blood from her shirt beginning to soak his as well. Kagome let out another cry into his shoulder as her tears mixed with the blood, staining Inuyasha's shirt in a way that soap and water could never remove. The hanyou merely closed his eyes and held Kagome close to him, feeling a slight guilt enter his conscience as he thanked God the injury hadn't been hers.

"Kei?" Sesshomaru asked warily, standing to his feet as the ex-Fang leader approached.

"Never you mind, Sesshomaru, Gan will be fine. It's Akago I'm worried about," Kei said with a dismissive wave of his hand, glancing over at his wife as she continued her work on Akago's beaten body. "I should probably go offer my assistance."

"Yeah," Sesshomaru murmured quietly, feeling a sort of emptiness as Kei hurried over to assist Nanashi. The silver haired demon finally fell back on the couch, staring off into the distance as he silently thanked the Gods. However apathetic the Fang leader was famed to be, he was anything but. He had a startling weakness for his friends, of which Gan was included. He was glad the boy was alive. Now he only hoped Akago would pull through as well...though the odds were against them.

After almost an eternity of silence, during which couples held hands and everyone yearned for cigarettes, Nanashi came walking over with a tired expression on her normally youthful face. Her green eyes were dull and pained as she adressed the rag-tag group. "Well, I did my best. He'll live, but the recovery is probably going to be long and arduous. God knows I wish I could take him to a real hospital, but he's under enough heat after sellin' drugs to the whole city. In any case, we can't move either Akago or Gan anytime today. They'll have to spend the night and somebody's gotta be here with em. We've already made a choice."

The gang members exchanged weary glances, some desperately wanting to stay and others desperately wanting to leave. Nanashi continued after taking what appeared to be a much needed breath, "Kagome, you'll stay the night because you seem to have a grip on medicine more than the rest of you, no offense everyone. But she did extract a bullet from Gan's back."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, but Kei held up a hand and said sternly, "Inuyasha, don't say a word. Kagome is our choice and the only one we'll allow to stay the night. You may be friends of both Akago and Gan, but we are their doctors and privacy must be kept. Kagome is the only one currently in on that privacy and she will remain as such. Are we clear?"

When Kei used his authoritative lawyer voice, it was decidedly hard to disagree with him and Inuyasha only hung his head, murmuring a few curses as he kicked at the ground. "Fuck."

"The rest of you, go home. Something tells me the next few days will be a test of everyone's strength, physically, mentally and emotionally," Kei said wisely to the others, who exchanged glances before moving slowly towards the front of the warehouse.

Ayame began to part ways from Kouga to start her motorcycle, but a hand on her wrist stopped her. Kouga's ice blue eyes, serious as opposed to their usual playfulness, held her in place as he said quietly, "Stay with me tonight."

Ayame admitted to herself that being alone was a frightening prospect this night, especially with Naraku and his crazed, lunatic followers roaming the streets. She was, in the slightest chance, a danger to her siblings when inside her own house. Shivering slightly, the redhead nodded and took Kouga's offered hand, slipping on a helmet as she positioned herself on the back of his motorcycle. Somehow, not even a motorcycle ride through the city could lift her spirits this time.

Sango watched her friend go and, with a sigh, began wheeling Ayame's motorcycle inside the warehouse. In Ayame's desire to escape the stifling atmosphere, she'd almost completely forgotten her prized Yamaha in the gravel parking lot. The bike was quite obstinate against Sango's arms and she was having difficulty pushing the large bike across the gravel, but the task became much simpler as Miroku's hands appeared atop hers on the handle bars.

The boy managed a smile, however small and pathetic, as they positioned the Yamaha just inside the warehouse door. "If this bike got boosted, I'd die a little inside; I made the engine from scratch."

Sango's smile mirrored Miroku's, tired and sad. "I remember. It rained for a week straight and you barely even left except to get parts. Ayame said she'd owe you until the day she died."

"Yeah, well," Miroku said modestly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd probably do that for anyone in there, know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Sango breathed. "Too bad devotion couldn't put us there to save Akago and Gan."

The two fell silent once more until Miroku wrapped an arm around Sango's waist, walking her towards the car. "C'mon, we could use some sleep."

Kagome watched her friends leave in the cars and on the motorcycles, roaring off into the distance until all that remained was displaced gravel and a dust cloud. She could see Inuyasha looking out the back of Sesshomaru's Saleen, his amber eyes worried and glazed. Kagome held herself tighter until she could barely breathe. As much as she hated to make Inuyasha uneasy, she, Kei and Nanashi knew sitting anyone else in the warehouse for so long by a sleeping Gan would be trouble. If someone had to check the wound, they would undoubtedly discover something surprising, or rather, two round surprises on her chest.

After a moment of silence, Kagome walked quietly back inside the warehouse, preparing for a long night of paperwork. This night would be long and quiet. Or so she believed.

_"But Tomo, I thought guns were dangerous."_

_Ikimasu Tomo glanced down at his stepdaughter, a free spirited girl of seven, and smiled in his quiet way. He was a striking man with stern features, the perfect, level-headed example of a Kyoto policeman. "We need guns Kagome. They're not just weapons; they are also symbols."_

_Kagome cocked her small head to the side, black pigtails glistening in the sunlight. "Symbols?"_

_"Symbols of our freedom," Tomo said. A breeze ruffled the trees surrounding the outdoor shooting range. Summer heat from the inlet had set in around the city. "A man without a gun is a subject, but a man with a gun is a citizen."_

_Kagome looked at the training gun in her hand, a small, black little device with a trigger. It was loaded with bee bees, as all training guns were. "Guns kill people, don't they?"_

_"A gun is only as good as the man who weilds it," Tomo said, black hair ruffling slightly with another breeze. "You can use your gun to kill or you can use it to protect. I use mine to protect."_

_Kagome looked up at her stepfather with wide eyes as she held the gun in her small, lily white hands. "But what if you have to kill to protect somebody?"_

_"I would do anything to protect the ones I love. When you are older, Kagome, you will understand," was Tomo's calm reply. He emanated complete and total placidness, an untouched lake. _

_Kagome looked down at the gun and back at Tomo, who was regarding the shooting range with a familiar smile. Finally, the young girl said, "Could I have used a gun to keep daddy from dying?"_

Kagome's eyes flashed open as she uttered a small gasp, startled by her recollective dream. She hadn't thought of her father or stepfather for almost the entire summer, yet the appeared together in one dream. Albeit, her father hadn't actually appeared, but his name was still there: daddy. Kagome sighed at her young naivete; a gun wouldn't have stopped her father from dying, though she might've wished it.

"Oh well, I would've needed a gun _and _a time machine to fix that," the girl muttered allowed to herself, glancing around the warehouse. She'd left the lights on, simply because a dark warehouse in the middle of the night would've led her to imagine all sorts of dark creatures lurking in the shadows. She was, after all, in grave danger these days.

Stretching, the girl glanced over at the kitchen where Akago's makeshift bed had been layed, glancing at the table. Her eyes widened momentarily.

Empty.

The raven haired girl rocketed out of her seat, overalls nearly tripping her as she looked frantically around; a sweat had already broken out on her brow. "Akago? Akago, where are you?" she called desperately, running towards the kitchen to see if he'd fallen off the table in his sleep.

The bloody sheet still remained, as did the instruments Nanashi had used to perform her numerous surgeries, but Akago was no where to be found. In a tizzy, Kagome whirled about and happened to catch sight of the storage room door; it was slightly ajar.

Kagome's blood frozen in her veins as her heart and stomach gave a lurch; this couldn't bode well. The girl crossed the distance between the kitchen and the storage room in less than two seconds and she threw open the door, met with a sight that would remain with her for the totality of her days on earth.

Akago Tsume stood quietly beside Gan's bed, white hair and skin stained with his own blood as stitches gave way and his limbs grew weak. He felt no pain, however, as he stared down at his second in command, crimson eyes hooded and leaking glassy tears in a steady stream. His shoulders were angled in such a way that he might've been mistaken for a scarecrow by an innocent bystander, upright and immobile. There were no thoughts in his normally busy mind, no emotions in his torn heart, no feelings in his battered body. Akago felt nothing as he stood there, staring into the cold eyes of betrayal.

The sheet covering Gan's body had been removed and was folded carelessly to the side. Kei and Kagome had placed Gan on her back, despite her injury, with a donut pillow surrounding the wound, but Kagome could now see this was a mistake. For the second time that day, there were those un-sexual breasts, looking completely unappetizing as they sat there atop Gan's torso, an unmistakable physical characteristic. Kagome's breath stopped for a moment and she wondered if it would ever start again; this was impossible. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. One million other things were supposed to happen before this. Why now? Why this way?

"I was...I was checking the wound," Akago said, voice dry and cracked as he choked out this meaningless confession.

Kagome could barely even nod as she felt tears coming to her own eyes. She suddenly felt ridiculous as she stood there in her overalls and red sports bra, hair messy and disheveled, pale face streaked with the day's pain and labor. None of the pain she felt could possibly compare to Gan's or Akago's. Gan hated keeping her secret, hated lying to the man she cared for the most, but she was forced to do it for some reason, a reason that couldn't be repeated. Akago had only trusted one person in his entire life and now, even he...she had betrayed him. Lied to him. Made a fool of him.

"Akago," came Kagome's tearful whisper. "She-"

"She what." Akago's chin nearly touched his chest and he began to shake, fists clenched in a trembling stiffness. "She WHAT?!"

His shout echoed around the room, breaking the defeaning silence and shattering what little resolve Kagome had left. She placed a hand over her mouth as yet more tears fell down her cheeks, cold and wet and lonely.

"Is it a joke? A big joke on me? Does everyone laugh at my expense, knowing that I walk around every day thinking my best friend is a man?" Akago hissed bitterly, his words bitten and tight.

"No," Kagome whispered brokenly, a sob escaping her lips as she closed her eyes. It was over; Gan's life here was over. "Only I know. Me and Kei and Nanashi."

She couldn't tell whether or not Akago was listening to her, whether or not he had digested any of the information, but she had a terrible feeling in her gut that nothing she might say could help him. He snorted, a soft sound in his throat, as he steadied himself on the side of Gan's bed. "I see. I suppose that you think I'll feel better knowing that."

When the albino man began to sway on his feet, Kagome took a tentative step forward, one hand outreached. "No, I know you won't. B-but please, Akago, _please..._she told me she didn't mean to stay but...but she couldn't leave...you."

Again, Akago said nothing for a moment. His crimson eyes, however blurry and tearful, could still make out those things, those _breasts_, the most ridiculous symbol of betrayal he'd ever witnessed. He'd seen Yakuza shoot each others wives, watched gang men steal from wallets, watched brother and sister sell each others secrets for money, but he'd been betrayed by breasts. He felt so stupid and ridiculous, so foolish. Four years, or was it five? How couldn't he have known? How couldn't he have had even the slightest idea?

"This person. This person here," Akago murmured. "Who is she? I know Gan the Gun, a boy, no, a man who kept me on my feet when I wanted to stop this nonsense and give my responsibilities to someone else. I wanted to take my sister to France, just the two of us...but Gan told me it didn't work that way. He told me that responsibility would never disappear and neither would my sense of obligation. And he was right. Gan was my voice of reason, my sanity, the one thing keeping me from turning into the next Naraku Onigumo...but who is this girl? What if my Gan never existed? What if the real Gan is this girl and everything else was just an act? If he was my sanity, does that make me...insane?"

Kagome found herself chilled to the bone as Akago turned to look at her, red eyes innocent and young as they spilled crystal tears. In that moment, Kagome could swear that she was a dead girl standing in the doorway with no blood pumping in her veins, no breath in her lungs. Just like Akago, she couldn't feel.

Kagome and Akago were rudely broken from their trance as the door in the warehouse slammed open, giving way to loud shouts and crashing footsteps. Akago's tears nearly frozen on his face as he took a tentative sniff of the air and whispered, "Dragons."

After her motionless minute, Kagome snapped into action and she narrowed her eyes, ordering curtly, "Stay in here, Akago, and don't leave. Cover Gan, they can't see her. I mean it, don't even think about leaving this room!"

As Kagome hurried out the door, she heard the swishing of the sheet as Akago covered Gan's body from view. Akago clenched his fists as he stood watch over Gan's body, not knowing if he was protecting this girl or simply frozen in place. It was a time of great danger, an infiltration of his ally's headquarters, and Akago couldn't defend himself. He was weak at this time, in all senses of the word; normally, Gan was there to aid him as a crutch in times of weakness. But now...Akago was weak alone.

When Kagome arrived in the main room, she was met with the sight of at least twenty Dragons, all of them armed to the teeth and giving off a rank odor. They were standing in no particular pattern around the back area, obviously uninterested in the cars and motorcycles near the front. Each and every one of the intruders was staring impassively at Kagome, who couldn't deny the fear creeping up in her stomach. But there was something else along with that fear.

Anger.

Red hot fire filled Kagome's gaze as she watched the Dragons, standing in their black jackets, greasy haired and loaded with weapons, encroaching upon Fang turf. It was a bold move, no doubt, and Kagome was almost surprised by their gaul, but she remembered irately that these were the same kind of men who attacked her in the alley. They obviously had little self-respect, or they wouldn't have allied themselves with Naraku and his madness. It was clear now that Ryuukoytsusei was no longer calling the shots for a good portion of the Dragons. Many of them had allied themselves completely with the Spiders.

"Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here?!" Kagome demanded hotly, narowing her eyes at the seemingly apathetic Dragons.

Unfazed, the leader of the group, a dark haired panther demon with waist length dread locks, stepped forward with a six shooter in each hand. "We'll do as we please. You're coming with us."

"What? Like hell I am!" came Kagome's biting reply. She clenched her fists, feeling nails digging into her palms even as she stood there. Her mind was racing as she tried to remember where the nearest gun was, but she realized that starting a gun fight with twenty armed fighters was ridiculous. It would only be a short time before one of them would land a shot right in her heart. Looking wildly around, she realized there weren't exits for at least fifty feet. She would never make it, especially pitted against demons in a footrace.

The leader began walking slowly forward, chains and zippers jingling as he did so. His boot steps were heavy on the floor, almost mimicking Kagome's heartbeat as her mouth grew dry. The only reasons the others had allowed her to stay the night in the warehouse alone was because nothing like this had ever happened in gang history. Gangs simply didn't invade other warehouses. It wasn't done and the very thought was considered extremely bold, at least warranting a murder or two. Intruding on another gang's turf was unspeakeable as it was; who would've ever thought that Naraku would actually order his men to step foot in the Fang _headquarters?_

"You gonna come quietly?" the Dragon asked, looking as apathetic as ever; his burgundy eyes still held no emotion.

Kagome silently weighed her options. If she made a fuss, it would take longer for the Dragons to leave the warehouse and that was bad. If they lingered, some of them might raise their noses above the grease and smell Akago and Gan, which would just bring more problems. They were too dimwitted to wonder why Kagome was in the warehouse alone at this time of night and none of them seemed to care. They were simply following orders. If Kagome went quickly and quietly, they would all leave with her. Naraku had sent 20 men in hopes that a surplus amount of soldiers would finally do the trick. He was tired of the South evading him.

"Yes," came Kagome's tight reply.

The Dragon stopped momentarily, as though surprised, but he finally murmured, "Lock your hands behind your back and walk."

Kagome did as she was told and, just as she'd imagined, the other Dragons walked in a clump around them, exiting the warehouse through the small front door. Despite her current situation, Kagome felt relieved the minute the last Dragon stepped foot outside on the gravel parking lot floor. The less time they spent in the headquarters the better.

The dread-locked Dragon said curtly, "I'm carrying you. Don't move around unless you want to get thrown off."

Kagome just nodded, displeased by this arrangement but eager to get the Dragons away from the warehouse. The Dragon threw Kagome crudely over his shoulder, refraining from placing his hands anywhere perverted. Kagome was pleasantly surprised, in a wry sort of way, but she felt all sarcasm leave her as the Dragon began sprinting away from the warehouse. Somehow, as much as she wanted to draw these bastards away, Kagome had an unquenchable desire to charge back within the safety of those cheap tin walls. A tear escaped the corner of her eye as she suddenly imagined Inuyasha's handsome face, smiling and winking at her on a warm summer's day. Just thinking about his warm amber eyes made her think of home. And now she was leaving home, not knowing if she would even see home again.

Inside the warehouse, Akago was laying back on the couch, his eyes closed as he waited tiredly for Sesshomaru to pick up his cell phone. The Shark leader, however distrssed at that moment, knew what to do in such an emergency and he had little time to dally with his broken heart. Now it was time to get back to business.

"Hello?" a sleep voice finally answered.

"Sesshomaru," Akago practically choked. "Kagome's been kidnapped."

**Dun dun dun...**

**Woo buddy, this was a long chapter and probably not to your liking; sorry about that. Lots of Gan and Akago, not so much other folk, but God knows I tried my hardest there at the end. There's lots of Kagome, yay! We're getting into some pretty deep shizat now, so everyone hold onto your hats.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and don't forget to send me little profiles if you want to be a character in the next Fangs story. When the summer is over, the other gang members return and we'll meet a few. In your profile, tell me what you look like and which Wildcat you'd like to follow. Each of the core members has a following and you get to pick whether its Rin, Ayame, Sango or Kagome. **

**Sorry if Akago's stuff was off the wall, but it was kinda badass too. I like writing stuff in japanese, it makes me feel cool, haha. **

**Translation of Akago's incantation: Wing of dove, blood of heart, scar of hate, cleft of earth, pearl of youth, salt of sea, release this power to my device.**

**Okay, well I leave you now. Leave a review at the beep. BEEP.**

**KOLU**


	30. 1st Stage: Recon

**And here we go again. Sigh. If anyone read the reviews, I was up for an award from the IY Guild and I lost it because of typos and general messiness (my fault completely). I was at school when I read that and I went "SHIT!" really loud and the debate teacher heard me. And stared at me. I'm so depressed. Like Marvin the robot. I also just had surgery and I feel like I'll never walk again and I'm royally PISSED because I'm missing college scouts for softball as we sit here and BREATHE. **

**But that's good because this chapter is DEPRESSING. DEPRESSION. HAHAHA. EVERYONE SHARE MY BAD FEELINGS.**

**I haven't done a disclaimer in a while: I do not own Inuyasha and any names or characters from the Inuyasha television show/manga by Rumiko Takahashi.**

"We have no choice now."

Sesshomaru's words hung heavy in the air, adding to the growing miasma of gloom. After a midnight wake up call from Akago, who was now resting, and a frantic rush to the warehouse, the Fangs arrived to find their warehouse reeking with the scent of Dragons. At the news of Kagome's kidnapping, the cores of every gang in the South had gathered and now they stood, many any in their pajamas, looking around helplessly at one another.

Rin was quite close to crying, though she was trying to hold out for her pride's sake. Her cousin, whom she had agreed to host in her home, agreed to escort around Tokyo, agreed to protect, had fallen into the hands of those she distrusted most. How hadn't she stopped it? How had Rin been sleeping comfortably beside her boyfriend, not a care in the world, as her cousin disappeared into the night, no one to save her? Rin seemed confident, but she always had a perpetual feeling of self doubt; she couldn't fight like the other Southern leaders could and she always seemed to get into some kind of trouble. She felt like a liability to not only Sesshomaru, but Bankotsu, Ranbou and Akago as well. And now she'd done it again.

Sango seemed to sense her friend's discomfort and she put her hand on Rin's shoulder, whispering, "It'll be okay." But Rin continued to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes. It wouldn't be okay. It would never be okay as long as she was weak.

"Kidnapping Kagome is a hard crime to pin on them, seeing as though she isn't actually a member of the Southern gangs," Sesshomaru continued darkly, standing with his back to the others; he was smoking almost pensively on a cigarette, eyes partially closed as he made out the moon through the upper most windows of the warehouse. The way the scant light caught his silver hair was mesmerizing, though the group was more focused on his words. Most were staring at the ground, feeling responsible for this tragedy.

"But invading this warehouse..."

Many looked up, as their leader's voice had grown significantly lower, scratchier, deadlier. "Invading this warehouse is absolutely inexcusable. This is our land and they have no FUCKING RIGHT TO COME IN HERE."

Sesshomaru threw his cigarette to the side and lashed out with an unexpected kick, sending one of the bar stools flying against the back wall. It broke into several pieces upon impact, causing a hideous noise to echo throughout the warehouse. The others exchanged glances and Ayame took a step backwards away from a splintering chair leg, which consequently landed some two feet from her foot. Kouga stepped up and placed his arm protectively around her waist, absently running his hands through her glossy red curls as Sesshomaru covered his face with one hand, cigarette dangling from the other. Rin bit her lip as though she wanted to step up and comfort him, but Inuyasha shook his head slowly in her direction. Sesshomaru was far too unpredictable.

Inuyasha sighed to himself as Rin reluctantly rolled back on her heels, pulling back the hand she'd unconsciously reached out towards her boyfriend. As another bout of chills racked Inuyasha's arms, he stared down at his boots and closed his eyes; ever since Sesshomaru woke him to tell him the news, he'd felt sick. Sick in a nauseous, rolling, wave-like way. Nauseous like he'd spent the past three days on a stormy sea freighter. He wanted to cry, scream, throw glass, kick rocks, but he couldn't even move. His Kagome. His girlfriend. His everything. In the hands of a madman. He'd heard about Naraku's peculiar fantasies, the strange way he tortured his victims; the male victims ended up without several fingers a good percentage of the time. The females...Inuyasha preferred not to think about it.

The fear which had been gripping Inuyasha for the past thirty minutes escalated in a single moment as he imagined Kagome, dead, naked, and burned from head to foot. In a single, swift motion, he seemed to appear at Sesshomaru's side and he screamed brokenly, "Do something, you stupid fuck! Send someone! Tell us to move out! Get a fucking machine gun and go kill the bastard! DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GOD DAMNIT SESSHOMARU! DO SOM-"

Inuyasha remembered nothing after that moment for, without a word, Sesshomaru delivered a stunning blow to the back of his brother's head, sending the hanyou crashing lifelessly to the ground. Though the others weren't quite aware of it, Sesshomaru could sense Inuyasha playing right into Naraku's hands. This was his idea all along, wasn't it? By taking Kagome, he accomplished several things at once. He incited the South, gained someone to help him with his mysterious guns, and likewise gained himself a sexual play toy. Naraku was no fool. But neither was Sesshomaru.

The Fang leader, ignoring the stunned faces of his friends, leaned down and scooped Inuyasha easily into his arms, depositing his unconscious half brother on the couch as though this were an every day practice.

"Se-Sesshomaru?" Rin choked out.

After a moment, Sesshomaru turned, facing the group for the first time. A hard conviction flickered in his amber eyes as he said lowly, "We have no choice now. It's all or nothing and we can't sit back on our heels this time. I have a plan."

No one said a word as their leader fell silent, meeting the eyes of every single person without fail. He held Rin's for a fraction of a second longer than the others, causing her heart to nearly catch in her throat; in that moment, the numerous reasons why she loved Sesshomaru resounded in her head and she felt the tears nearly dissolve from her eyes. She felt stronger now, for some reason.

Without preamble, Sesshomaru said flatly, "Naraku has to die. Whether at my hands or someone else's, any plan will ultimately end in his death. I trust no one has a problem with that." No one did and the room was silent. "In that case," the dog demon continued, "I'll outline the course of action I've decided to take."

Before he could do so, however, the familiar sound of car tires on gravel entered through the cracked door, which had been carelessly left ajar by the last to enter. The thirteen teens held their breath, exchanging glances as several released their claws and someone gave a demonic growl. Sesshomaru lifted his nose to the air and caught a familiar scent, finally allowing his muscled to relax as a ghost of a smile graced his lips. The others, seeing this, warily rocked back on their heels as though following his example, but wished they had his superior sense of smell. With the grease and overpowering scent of Dragons, they couldn't smell a thing.

Footsteps, several pairs, approached the door until the Southern cores realized why Sesshomaru seemed so unalarmed.

"What's wrong with you lot then? Look like you've just seen a ghost."

Tobi Skull, flanked by Benkan, Axle, Max and two dark haired girls entered the warehouse confidently, beads and fringe dangling off his Jackrabbit pants as he shook out his hair, which had obviously been encased in a helmet for quite some time. The Jackrabbits had, upon receiving Sesshomaru's word, made a few arrangements at home and jumped on their motorcycles for a road trip.

The appearance of Tobi, Benkan, Axle and Max wasn't completely surprising and the others just sighed, letting out relieved yet irritated breaths. Claws retracted and faces returned to their normal nervous state, though Kouga and Ranbou seemed almost frozen in time. While the others couldn't quite recognize the two dark haired girls, Kouga and Ranbou would never forget them.

Kouga found himself met with two pairs of ice blue eyes, the very same ones which enchanted the face of every Ookami in the lineage. He felt several emotions at once, the foremost two being overwhelming sadness and heart-lifting joy. He couldn't quite move his arms, though his fingers twitched slightly; he couldn't decide whether to reach out and touch the girls or fall over in a dead faint. Ranbou was unreadable, if not for his slightly open mouth.

Kinanme Ookami felt quite unnerved as she shifted from foot to foot beside her sister, who was silent as always. Though Kina was physically small, she felt it was her responsibility to make enough noise for the both of them. Ranbou and Kouga's eyes were startlingly intense as they lighted on both girls, causing a strange silence in the room that made Kinanme want to scream and holler, if only to break it.

Finally, biting her pert little lip in an irritated fashion, she murmured, "Well, you two look good."

Despite her good intentions, Kinanme's comment did absolutely nothing to the tense atmosphere, a mere marble bouncing of a brick wall. Kouga could remember every single thing about sisters, every freckle, every smile and every quirk. Yet they had grown up in these past years without him, now beautiful reflections of his mother, standing like ghostly inner mirrors before him. Kinanme had matured in the face and now hosted the typical Ookami nose, a straight and handsome slope, while her dark black hair was unintentionally arranged in the same fringe-over-face pattern as her siblings.

Kotone Ookami stood tall beside her younger sister, arms crossed and ice blue eyes seeming curious if anything. She kept her hair in a high ponytail like her brothers and, in that moment, dressed in her jeans and black wife beater, she could've easily passed for Kouga's feminine twin. Her mouth was full in a pretty way, but the rest of her facial construction was identical to Kouga's; no one might ever guess that she was actually a year his junior. Had she possessed the ability to talk, Kotone might've said something cheerful to break the silence, as the smile on her face suggested she felt no sadness or anger. Kotone was always slightly irritated by the pessimism in others for, had she been born with a working voice box, she might've said very pleasant things. But, unfortunately, Kotone had been mute since the day of her birth.

Without warning, Kouga crossed the distance between himself and his sisters, drawing them into a powerful hug with one arm around each of their waists. He drew them close and the tension seemed to dissolve as both girls hugged him back, Kotone still wearing a smile while Kinanme just closed her eyes and savored her brother's scent. It was like hers, spicy and wild, but different. Just... so Kouga.

"Where've you been?" Kouga murmured.

"In Kyoto," Kinanme said, as though this were obvious. Gesturing down to her jeans, she explained, "After we left, we joined up with Skull and Bones. We just needed some time away."

Kouga had, by this time, pulled back, and was looking at his sister's with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. "I know. But you coulda, like, called."

Ranbou was still standing stock still, mouth partially open as his tongue grew dry. Kinanme directed her gaze around Kouga and met eyes with Ranbou, who was still unmoving, and took a few tentative steps forward. "Ran?"

She drew ever closer, step by step, until she took his in a hug, pressing herself against him as though trying to bring him closer in any way she could. Her head only came up to about his bicep, but Ranbou still felt the love in her arms and remembered, finally, what to do with his own. In a slow motion, he returned the hug and gave a smile, one which caused the others in the warehouse to let out another relieved breath. This was certainly turning into a night of tense greetings.

"I'd say somethin' corny like 'wow, you grew,' but...you didn't," Ranbou said almost apologetically, causing the others the chuckle.

Kina let loose a full fanged Ookami grin and buried her head even deeper into her brother's chest, replying, "I'm short, just like mom."

Though Ranbou still felt a pang in his heart at the mention of his mother, he couldn't help but continue smiling. "Yeah, you're just like mom in about every way I can think of."

"Wait, wait, wait...Kina?"

Kinanme pulled back from Ranbou and glanced behind him, meeting eyes with a familiar pair of amber orbs, framed by silver hair and little white dog ears. She remembered this face well and she exclaimed with a deafening squeal, "SHITORA?!"

Shitora let out an almost identical scream and the two collided, hugging each other as they jumped up and down like a screeching jumping bean. Several of the boys were forced to cover their ears as the racket continued, trying to speak over it but finding it impossible. Eventually, Ranbou cleared his throat and the girls stopped squealing, continuing on to actual speaking.

"Oh my god, where have you been?"

"You know, just screwing around."

"Ha! You always were a ho!"

"Yeah, we'll you're still a slut like always!"

The girls burst out laughing, causing the boys to exchange confused glances; wasn't "ho" supposed to be an insult? Before they could ponder this matter further, Sesshomaru interrupted the greeting rather tightly. "However good it is to see both of you again, we have a situa-"

But not even Sesshomaru was spared. Kotone let out a gasp, one of the only sounds she could make, and ran forward with a speed that only wolf demons could master. She collided with Sesshomaru, hugging him tightly, a sight which brought tears of a different kind to Rin's eyes. She sniffed as Sesshomaru's face broke into an almost content smile and he embraced his old friend tenderly. "Yes, it's good to see you too, Koto."

As children, the Ookamis and Taishos had been inseparable. Seeing one without the other six was rare and the families were considered deeply interweaved, a rarity amongst wolf and dog clans. The Ookami-Taisho bond had, inevitably, brought the Tokyo dog and wolf factions closer, creating an almost unstoppable alliance. For several years in the children's' youth, the wolf and dog clans had been at peace and controlled their areas without problem. With the deterioration of the Ookami family after Sashatori's death, Sashatori being Kibishii's wife, the bond had inevitably deteriorated as well and the clans were now estranged.

The circumstances of Sasha's death were unfortunate. It was a stormy night and she'd just gone out to pick up milk at the store. Little did she know that Yakuza hit men were prowling the town under the instruction of their leader; Kibishii Ookami, the best hit man in the business, would soon learn of the immortal pain which would hopefully put him out of business. The pain of losing his wife. They say Sasha didn't even see her killers. She only felt the cold metal piercing her heart from the back, a rapier through her body like a stake.

After this tragedy, Kotone and Kinanme refused to stay under Kibishii's roof and left two hours after Sasha's funeral. Kouga and Ranbou had watched them go, tears streaming stubbornly down their faces. They couldn't make them stay and they knew that well; they had to let them go.

Sesshomaru cleared his throat as Kotone leaned back from their spontaneous hug, ice blue eyes gleaming brightly. She began communicating quite fast in sign language, hands dancing like marionettes on her wrists and causing many in the room to raise their eyebrows in confusion. Most of them had forgotten their sign language since their days with Kotone, but Sesshomaru certainly hadn't.

He could make out her words clearly: _I suppose you have some sort of ingenious plan to get us out of this ridiculous cock-up of a mess?_

He smiled faintly; Kotone had attended a school of sign language run by British emissaries and, as a result, had learned to speak with British words. This resulted in a pleasant mixture of languages and she sometimes signed like a bit of a cockney. Her friends and family found it endearing and many of them had picked up her British twangs when they signed with her.

Sesshomaru signed back deftly: _Ingenious is one way to put it. Spur-of-the-moment and messy is another. _

The Jackrabbits read the signs easily, as did Kouga and Ranbou; the lot of them exchanged glances, wondering exactly how "messy" said plan was going to end up being. Ranbou was grinning, as messy plans had always been his favorite, but Kouga's glance unconsciously drifted towards Ayame, who's arms were crossed over her chest as though she were freezing. He just wanted to protect her, but he knew this life came with all sorts of danger. And Ayame knew that as well as he did.

"All right then, listen up," Sesshomaru said officiously. "This is what we're going to do."

The group sobered and gathered around Sesshomaru in a tighter circle, jaw's set determinedly. They knew that this plan, however brilliant, wouldn't bring everyone away unscathed and they were preparing themselves for whatever perils might entreat them on their way to victory. If victory ever came.

Rin's eyes faltered, but a larger, smooth hand grabbed hers quickly, lacing their fingers together in one quick motion. She glanced up at Sesshomaru, who offered her the slightest bit of a smile before turning his gaze towards the others. Rin smiled proudly, as she knew Sesshomaru's time to lead had come; sure, he'd lead the group before, but this was quite different. She knew that Sesshomaru was destined for great things and she would always be there with him. Especially now.

And together the group decided on Sesshomaru's plan. Messy, indeed. But...it was all they had.

"This is crazy."

Miroku glanced up from his 13-calliber as Sango said this, quietly, faintly, her words almost drifting away in the cold expanse of the warehouse. The both of them were dressed completely in black, as were the others around them, and the clicking of guns and belts had become common place in the past half hour. Sango had been quietly pulling on her boots as Miroku loaded his gun and messed with his utility belt. He smiled quietly to himself as he held up the finished utility belt, seeming to ignore Sango's comment.

"I feel like Batman," he said proudly, earning an eye roll from Sango. "Sorry," he said after a moment, chuckling humorlessly. "Yeah, this is crazy. But what did you expect?"

Sango shrugged and glanced up through the top most windows at what few stars she could see, shining defiantly against Tokyo's blazing skyline. "I don't know. I didn't expect anything. I definitely didn't expect this. All of this coming down on us at the last minute...so fast."

Miroku buckled the belt around his waist, where it hung loosely, and he gave it an almost reassuring pat before he responded, "I'm kinda glad it didn't build up slowly. Then we would've had to wait it out, go through the motions, live thinking death was..around the corner or something. I mean...now its staring us in the face. Isn't that better?"

At this display of Miroku's undying faith in all things, Sango couldn't help but smile slightly. "Yeah, I guess that's true. I'm not very patient, anyway."

Miroku walked quietly towards Sango, placing his hands on either side of her head and kissing her gently on the forehead. "I know, baby. I just wanted to let you know that even if I come out of this with a leg missing or something, I'll still love you."

Tears came quickly to Sango's eyes, but she blinked them away just as fast, slapping her boyfriend's strong arm with little enthusiasm. "Oh, shut up. You're not coming out of this with one leg." In a startling show of strength, Sango stood boldly and shouted, "You hear that?! Everyone's walking home on two legs! Two! Not one! No one's hopping home!"

Benkan chuckled as Sango screamed this, turning to Kotone where she stood slipping on a pair of sleek black gloves, preparing for a night on the town, so to speak. He watched her for a moment, admiring this silent girl who had, in her absent-minded way, stolen his heart. He nearly slapped himself in the head; what would the Jackrabbits say if they heard Benkan Bones being nostalgic and cliché? He wasn't sure, but he wouldn't even care if they knew. They probably already did to some extent; it was all over his face when he so much as looked at Kotone and he knew it. But he didn't see anything wrong with that. He was in love. So what?

Kotone glanced up and lowered her dark eyebrows, signing, "_What are you staring at?"_

Benkan just smirked and signed back, "_You."_

This caused the girl to grin, which was her way of showing laughter, and she waltzed purposefully towards him, body defined in a pair of skin tight black pants and matching turtleneck. _"This isn't exactly the time for this, Mr. Bones."_

Despite this comment, she straddled him easily, legs falling over either side of the chair on which he sat. Benkan's bright eyes smiled as starkly as his lips. Since his hands had since become occupied on Kotone's waist, he murmured quietly, "I think it's the perfect time for this, Ms. Koto."

Kotone grinned once more and was just leaning in to kiss Benkan on the lips when someone cleared their throat rather abrasively. Both Benkan and Kotone glanced up at the newcomer and were startled to find Ranbou standing there, arms crossed and glare stern. "Somethin' you wanted to tell me, Kotone? Or better yet, Ben, you wanna hit that up?"

Benkan sighed and ran a hand through his cherry red hair, picking up Kotone easily by the waist and setting her feet firmly on the floor. "I was under strict instructions not to say anything about Kotone or Kinanme, mate, believe me. I was threatened with all sorts of horrible things, you would've worried about me."

The grin on Benkan's face even melted Ranbou's anger, which was wearing thin anyway. If he had to pick a boyfriend for his sister, Benkan was a fabulous choice; he had terrific manners, was heart-breakingly loyal and was well known to be the calmer, more intelligent half of the Skull and Bones partnership. He was also Australian; there was something to be said for that by itself.

"Yeah, whatever," Ranbou said wearily. "I was talkin' about you two and whatever the fuck you are, but whatever. Um, I gotta get goin' pretty soon and I was gonna wish you two good luck."

Kotone's light hearted expression changed immediately to a sober frown and she nervously grabbed Benkan's hand, a habit she'd developed since they started dating a year and three months ago. She was perfectly aware that the first stage of the plan involved her brother and Shitora, but she didn't like to think of it. At least the later stages of the plan involved bigger groups, _safer _groups, but Ranbou and Shitora would be going alone for the sake of speed and efficiency. They were on recon and had to double-check the layout of the Spider headquarters to ensure the functionality of Sesshomaru's plan. Kotone knew Ranbou and Shitora were the best riders in the business, but this didn't ease her mind any. They were still her brother and an old friend.

The girl let go of Benkan's hand and threw herself at Ranbou, hugging him as close as she could. Ranbou smiled a little and held her close; she was some four inches above the ground, but he simply held on, murmuring, "I'll see you in a few hours, pretty bird. Don't get squirrelly."

Ranbou had called Kotone "pretty bird" since a morning long ago when he and his mother had sat on the porch, watching Kotone running about trying to catch butterflies. Ranbou's mother had said of her four year old daughter, "She's like a pretty little bird, isn't she?"

Six year old Ranbou scrunched up his nose and replied, "Birds sing and stuff; Koto can't sing nothin'."

His mother only smiled. "Just because she has no voice doesn't mean she can't sing like a bird."

And only in his later years did Ranbou really understand this. Though he and Koto were closer in age than he and Kinanme, he'd never quite gotten along with his quiet sister the same way. She and Kouga were always an item while he enjoyed playing out his mischievous plans with his younger sister, who shared his wicked and playful spirit. Still, he still had his pretty bird.

Kotone leaned back and signed forcefully, "_If you don't come back, you'll never have all those kids you wanted, so you better."_

Ranbou quirked his eyebrow and signed in reply, "_Kids?"_

"_Remember? You told me you wanted ten kids and you'd send them all to good schools and get them out of Tokyo. Do you remember?" _came Koto's urgent reply.

The boy thought for a while and finally smiled, mumbling, "Oh yeah. I remember now. Right, well, I'll be back to have those kids."

"_You'll need to get a girl first," _Kotone replied smartly, placing her hands on her hips when she was finished.

To this, Ranbou signed mysteriously in reply, "_Now when did I say I didn't have a girl? I'll have you know I get my share of goods."_

Kotone watched him go, shaking her head at her big brother's crassness but reveling in his presence all the same. Sure, she'd missed Kouga almost everyday, but she still thought about Ranbou and missed his snarky comebacks, his grit-rough attitude. Benkan wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, smiling as she leaned in to him.

"I don't think we have to worry about him, love. Ranbou always comes out on top; he's one lucky bastard."

Kotone signed absent-mindedly, "_Just like our father. But even he got unlucky once...and it cost him everything."_

Shitora pulled on her gloves, finding the cloth between her fingers unenjoyable and formal, just like this task she was about to perform. She and Ranbou were set to ride to the Spider headquarters and check the layout to ensure the plan's success, but she didn't want to do any stupid reconning. She just wanted to fight! But one glance into Sesshomaru's stern amber eyes had reminded her who was in charge and she'd shut her mouth; she would do as her leader insisted and not argue. Still, something in the pit of her gut irritated her, like a hair in her eye; what was so wrong about all of this?

"Sukini, you ready?"

She jumped slightly at Ranbou's voice and dropped her motorcycle keys, which landed with a small "chink" on the floor. She hurriedly picked them up and began holding them in her impossibly tight grip, replying toughly, "Yeah."

This answer would've fooled most, but one look at Shitora's normally rock solid face and Ranbou knew she was anything but ready. He furrowed his brow, an action which made him more handsome than Shitora was prepared to deal with and he closed the gap between them, muttering, "You alright?"

"Yeah," she breathed, trying to smile but feeling the corners of her mouth failing to respond to her urging.

Ranbou placed his hand on Shitora's shoulder and almost recoiled. "Yer shakin', Sukini."

Shitora refused to meet his eyes, stuttering unconvincingly, "I-I'm cold."

Ranbou snorted and said quietly, "It's 98 degrees outside and it ain't even light yet."

Glancing around first to see if anyone was standing near them, which they weren't, Shitora gazed up at Ranbou with wide amber eyes and whispered, "Does any of this feel bad to you? I dunno, ominous maybe? Like a storm is about to come or something?" Ranbou looked confused, so she continued. "You know how when a hurricane is coming in the springtime and the hackles on the back of your neck stand up and you shiver because your _youkai _is going crazy?"

At the mention of _youkai, _the inner demon, Ranbou nodded. "Yeah."

"That's what's happening to me right now," she whispered urgently, looking more worried than he could remember seeing her. "My _seppanyoukai _is, like, screaming at me to not do this; something is really wrong here, Ranbou."

Ranbou's mouth tightened; _seppanyoukai, _the half-demon's inner youkai, was known to have magnificent instincts. He could never understand as a child why his _naibuyoukai, _full demon inner youkai, wasn't as good as Inuyasha's _seppanyoukai _at detecting adults when he and the others were stealing cookies from the countertop, but he began to understand as he grew and heard the elders murmuring about half demons. It was said that, because half demons carried the balance of humans and demons in their blood, their powers were different and, in some ways, more powerful than demons. Their instincts were things of the heart and, due to their heritage, their senses were almost beyond comprehension. If Shitora thought something was wrong, something was wrong.

His _naibuyoukai _remained quiet as he stood there, observing Shitora quietly. Finally, he gave her a strong Ookami grin and said unshakably, "Don't worry, baby girl. We'll pull this off, we always do."

Shitora couldn't help but smile when that grin hit Ranbou's face; she really was a sucker for that grin. "I know...but-"

"No buts," Ranbou interrupted, pulling her gently towards him until they were embracing. She buried her head in his chest, wanting to smell his wild scent of the sun and motors as long as she possibly could. He whispered in her ear, "No matter what happens, Shitora, I'll protect you."

She nodded, feeling empowered by these words and knowing he spoke the truth. "I know." Whenever he called her Shitora instead of Sukini, she knew he was being serious and to honor anything he said. Everyone knew that an Ookami's word was better than gold in the pocket and they were trusted without fail when they landed themselves in a serious mood like this. Shitora smiled confidently as she leaned back and placed a kiss on Ranbou's lips, savoring their moment of intimacy as long as time would let her.

Sesshomaru cleared his throat discreetly, knowing the moment was important but fearing the cost of procrastination more than life. Shitora reluctantly broke the kiss and Ranbou smiled, brushing her cheek with his thumb before glancing up at Sesshomaru, eyes steely. "We're ready."

"Good," was all Sesshomaru said in return.

A few of the others had gathered around as Shitora and Ranbou adopted their serious business faces, all traces of pleasure and romance gone from sight. Their steps were nearly synchronized as they placed their helmets under their arms and turned to face the mouth of the warehouse, where the hangar door was just opening. Darkness was still prevalent outside, as it was just now nearing six in the morning, but this was to act in an aid to their plan. Shitora and Ranbou were much safer traveling under the cover of night.

The air was hardly cool as the outside, smelling slightly of salty sea and intense city asphalt, permeated the tense atmosphere within the warehouse. Shitora and Ranbou began walking purposefully towards their motorcycles, which were parked adjacent to one another near the entrance. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Kouga, Kinanme, Rin, Ginta and Hakkaku followed the two riders, each face grim and unsmiling as they made the short journey, knowing this was no unsymbolic parting. Everyone knew the risks. Especially Ranbou and Shitora.

It was time for goodbyes and good lucks. Inuyasha ruffled Shitora's hair, grabbing her in a tight hug. "You got it, kid."

"Yeah," she murmured, smiling faintly. She wanted to ask Inuyasha if his seppanyoukai was pulsing, if he felt the warnings as well, but she couldn't cast doubt in front of Sesshomaru. He would probably say something like, 'doubt would jeopardize the mission' and make Sango go in her stead. And she couldn't have that.

Sesshomaru came next, placing a gentle kiss on Shitora's head and smiling proudly. "You're a Taisho. Prove it."

"As if escaping boarding school wasn't enough," she joked, earning a chuckle from both her brothers.

Adjacent to the dog demons, Kouga and Ranbou shared a brotherly hug and Kouga said light heartedly, "Don't do nothin' stupid, got it?""

"Me? Stupid? You jest," Ranbou joked in reply.

Kotone bit her lips and looked up at her older brother, her idol, the one she'd always aspired to be and wondered why things had to be this way. She and Kotone finally worked up the courage to come back and now their brothers were leaving again. She supposed it was karma, like a kick in the ass from fate; the girls had, after all, left in the first place. But did fate have to have such wretched timing?

"Bye," Kinanme murmured, shuffling her feet sadly; she could barely even meet his eyes.

After a moment, during which Ranbou looked down at his sister with his arms crossed amusedly, he reached forward and picked her up from the waist, pulling her close to him while her feet dangled off the floor. "Don't be like that, princess, I'll be back."

"I know," she murmured into his shoulder, still sounding like a child denied her favorite television show.

"Yeah, you better."

Rin gave Shitora an almost tearful hug goodbye and both Ginta and Hakkaku slapped hands with Ranbou, their own little ways of showing good will. Finally, the riders were ready to set out. Ranbou and Shitora donned their helmets, sleek fullheads, and pushed up their visors to await Sesshomaru's instructions.

"Alright," Sesshomaru said formally, assuming the role of leader in a moment's time. "We need the layout, nothing more. Avoid confrontation at all costs but if someone has to die, I'm sure neither of you will have problems with that." There was mild chuckling at this, from both the riders and the surrounding group. "If something does happen, call. But if something happens and you don't return within the hour, we begin emergency procedures and full scale invasion."

This last bit was sobering and the grim air returned full force. Kinanme unconsciously clung to Kouga's arm and he found himself all to used to this; she'd done it when they were children and, as much as it annoyed him then, he had to say it was almost pleasing now. Like he could actually protect her this time.

Ranbou and Shitora both gave curt nods. "Hai."

Sesshomaru nodded in return and said calmly, "Go."

The twin engines roared to life as Shitora and Ranbou started the ignition and the purr of fine-tuned motors echoed throughout the warehouse. Both riders rolled onto the gravel, picking up speed as they pulled onto the road, finally gunning the throttle out of the complex. The others watched them go, wondering what might become of their friends, and Sesshomaru sighed heavily. He didn't like designating roles like this as a leader, but it had to be done. "Godspeed," he murmured, turning back inside to begin the fretful wait for their return.

The night air was hardly pleasing as Shitora and Ranbou rode through the deserted streets, traveling at speed almost unimaginable to the normal automobile owner. At the straightest points in the path, they hit top marks of 190 mph, but there was little pleasure in adrenaline rushes tonight. Both were quiet and reflected the calm of a lake, though only one of them felt as such.

Shitora continually tried to shake of the nagging of her seppanyoukai, which hadn't stopped pulsing since they'd left the warehouse. It was now increasing, like the beating of an erratic heart, and it drove her to distraction. She hissed, though the sound was undetectable with the rush of wind and she mentally smacked herself. This was no time to be doubting. She couldn't go into something like this unless she was completely sure of herself. So what in the hell was wrong with her seppanyoukai?

Ranbou could still feel the steel edge of Shitora's nervousness pressing into his gut, almost threatening to destroy his own calm front. He was used to high pressure situations, as a full time assassin, and he really saw this time as no different. For the time being, he was conveniently ignoring the fact that his girlfriend was present. She could take care of herself, so he shouldn't feel the need to protect her. Right? Unfortunately, no one was around to respond to his questions and he brushed them all aside for the time being. More important things were afoot.

The two riders were just crossing the Matsumoto bridge into the seedier part of town when Shitora noticed a speck in her rearview mirror. This speck was soon joined by four others until the number had multiplied to eight. Her seppanyoukai seemed to heave an irritated sigh; it had certainly tried to warn her.

Ranbou seemed to notice at the same time and he turned to Shitora, who nodded. In unison, they pressed their Nitrous injection switches and rocketed forward, knowing that Sesshomaru's plea to steer clear of confrontation was no idle threat. He gave it for a good reason; they couldn't afford to be caught if they valued their lives.

The riders were soon out of sight and both wolf and dog demon gave a sigh of relief; they were out of hot water for now. The most prudent course of action was to return home because those riders were bad news. If they were sent by a paranoid Naraku, they were already atop of the recon plan and it was useless to proceed. If they were simply out for an early morning joyride, they would report to the home base and, once more, ruin the plan. Ranbou veered left and Shitora followed; she knew her boyfriend was well versed in the seedy bit of town, where most of his assassinations were carried out. He could navigate them out for sure.

But Ranbou's navigation skills weren't the issue in this instance. Despite the rising sun, the streets seemed to get darker as they rode, growing increasingly dodgier until Shitora half expected to interrupt a cocaine line in the street. She glanced up just in time to see Ranbou hesitating on the throttle, looking full ahead at what appeared to be the most dangerous roadblock possible. Eight parked motorcycles, each handled by a Northern cyclist, were stretched across the way longwise, blocking any possible chance of escape. A jump would be too risky, especially from such a short distance, and Shitora was painfully aware. How had the riders rounded on them so quickly?

As Shitora and Ranbou cursed and hit their breaks, knowing there weren't exits for two miles on this stretch, a familiar sound from their backs brought a terrible realization to the front of their minds; it was the sound of engines. Motorcycle engines. Ranbou closed his eyes momentarily, wondering what they'd done to deserve this; the riders in front of them weren't the same eight they'd seen five minutes previously. It was a new set; there were sixteen in all. Naraku had certainly done his homework.

Shitora looked over to Ranbou as her bike slowed to a stop, wondering what he was planning to do. He dismounted and removed his helmet, staring fearlessly at the culmination of Northerners before him. Each of them was stone-faced, unshaven and sullen, the kind of attitude he expected from the North, but none of them were unknowns. He could pick out any one face there and list a crime warrant six pages long, most of them for more than just robbing a 711. He knew many of them from the Dragon elite, a rival assassination force, and knew this was more of a sticky situation than he'd even first realized.

Shitora removed her helmet as well, her silver hair shimmering like a beacon surrounded by black on all sides, and quickly began dissecting the situation. The eight riders following them had just parked their bikes long ways across the road and were now dismounting, meaning she and Ranbou would be fighting a battle on two fronts. Lowering her eyebrows, she glanced over at Ranbou, who met her gaze strongly. He seemed to be reading her thoughts and nodded, carefully beginning to move towards the nearest wall.

The Northern Force recognized this motion and didn't seem to care one way or the other; the pair could back themselves up against a wall to avoid a two-front fight if they wanted. They were still cornered.

Shitora followed suite and soon, she and Ranbou were facing sixteen cold-faced Dragons and Spiders, who were closing in from all sides with murder in their eyes. The one in front, a long haired panther demon who appeared to be the leader, withdrew a switchblade from his pocket and flicked it open, beginning a trend which spread down the line. As weapons seemed to appear in hands out of thin air, Ranbou snorted and removed a gun from his belt.

"Don't bring a knife to a gun fight," he said sourly, anything but mocking as he cocked the weapon and held it outright.

The panther demon seemed to look at this gun with a great deal of disdain before he said dryly, "You'll never be able to reload fast enough. A nine shooter. Besides, you know better than that, Ookami. Demons don't die with a bullet."

Ranbou grunted irritatedly and reluctantly lowered the gun; he knew the demon spoke the truth, but he was currently looking for anything that would prolong the moment until the battle began. He was looking for a way out, anyway to escape this situation, but the fight was inevitable at this point. Narrowing his eyes grimly, he replaced the gun in his holster and glanced over at Shitora.

"You ready for this Sukini?"

Shitora was rather at ease now that she knew why her seppanyoukai was so irritable; this was strange, seeing as though she was currently faced with 16 angry Northerners, but she could probably have remembered worse situations if she tried. Taking in a deep breath, she grinned at Ranbou, fangs gleaming as a hint of bloodlust dawned in her amber eyes. "So ready."

In a flash, it began; Ranbou and Shitora simultaneously launched themselves into the opposing force, letting loose startling yells of defiance. Shitora aimed a kick in the gut of the nearest Dragon, who was surprised by the girl's innate power, and then went on to catch a stunned Spider in the jaw with a right hook. While Shitora reeked havoc on the right side of attackers, who were rather shocked by her abilities and too stiff to move, Ranbou faced a group of capable fighters on the left who knew quite well what they were getting into.

Ranbou, as was his way, immediately came out on the offensive with a thunder-shock of a punch into the panther demon's chest, sending him flying backwards as though he'd been struck by dynamite. The next few fighters weren't caught off guard so easily and realized quickly that double teaming was their best option. A snake demon and another demon of indeterminable origin formed a sort of impromptu pincer movement and caught Ranbou from either side. He was able to defend against the snake demon easily, but the other attacker let loose with a powerful claw swipe which caught Ranbou in the meat of his side. He drew in a sharp breath and scowled, punching the demon as far as he could manage while dealing with the others simultaneously.

Shitora smelled the blood instantly and, though it wasn't like her to look away from a fight, she allowed her eyes to drift for the merest moment to her left. She just caught sight of blood pouring from three deep cuts on Ranbou's side when a blinding pain attacked her stomach. She'd forgotten the intense pain of a claw cut, which was stinging and vile. It always made her want to throw up, though rage soon followed the pain in a blinding uprising. It did so this time and, as blood collected in a dark red pool at her feet, she knocked out two attackers with a well placed roundhouse kick and dragon punch.

Ranbou noticed Shitora's blood as well, but knew her fatal mistake had been looking his way. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake, as he'd only managed to knock out two of his men as opposed to Shitora's three. His were obviously far more skilled and had pitted themselves against him in a show of strength, but he wasn't exactly worried about what kind of opponents he was facing. He was simply worried about annihilating them.

A lizard demon who'd been lurking in the back of the crowd found an opening and launched himself forward, attacking Ranbou with the vigor of an arsonist recently released from a mental institution. His claws were razor sharp and flew in twin arcs, causing Ranbou's other opponents to step back as the two of them fought. Ranbou felt slightly more at ease as he directed all of his attention on one fighter and he focused on avoiding the claws while mustering up a counterattack. He tensed his thighs and leapt a good four feet in the air, as only a wolf demon could, and delivered a spinning kick into the lizard's face. The demon fell, dead, to the asphalt with his face a terrible mess of blood and visible bone.

On the other side of the battle, Shitora had easily disposed of another fighter and was now facing the four remaining, a hint of red tingeing her eyes. Though she would never let her demon form release in this situation, as getting it back under control before it did damage to allies as well was hardly likely, she knew just how far she could push the line. With an added burst of speed, she leapt, despite the pain in her stomach, which was now pouring blood, and performed the only skilled martial arts move she'd ever been able to master: the split kick. This took out two more of her opponents, who fell unconscious to the pavement below, and Shitora eagerly focused on knocking out the last two. In a stunning move of brilliance, she flipped backwards and managed to land back to back with Ranbou, who had turned at precisely the right moment to ward off an attack from his left.

With Ranbou's remaining five, this made their grand total for the remainder of the fight seven. Ranbou wouldn't ever admit it out loud to himself, but having Shitora's back pressed against his during this fight had eased his paranoia considerably; he'd been worrying about actually ever getting out of this mess. Just as he thought this, two of the fighters in front of him came up with a move he wouldn't have expected in such a rag-tag fight. While the cat demon to the right attracted Ranbou's attention with his descending claws, the leopard hanyou on the left used Ranbou's distracted state to come in for a rather stunning double thrust of his claws. The claws, poised together, managed to hit Ranbou in his left shoulder. The result was devastating.

He'd been in mid punch, preparing to knock out the cat demon, which left the crown and meat of his brawny shoulder clearly exposed. The claws plunged deep within the open sight, meeting muscle, nerve, bone and whatever else there was to contact. Ranbou's roar of pain was gut wrenching and Shitora felt her heart stop as the scent of blood escalated indefinitely; this couldn't be happening.

While Ranbou's problems in this fight centered around the difficulty of his opponents, Shitora's centered around her tendency to get distracted by Ranbou. Two of her opponents simultaneously slashed downwards with their claws, creating an "x" across Shitora's chest as she felt the breath leave her body. The pain was instantaneous, but seemed to dissolve as the feeling nearly left her. She mentally cursed herself as she felt her knees threatening to give way beneath her; she'd done it again. She'd let this wretched "love" thing get in the way of her tough girl facade...but this time it was going to cost her more than personal pride.

In Ranbou's own haze of pain, he heard Shitora's small scream, which was short and sweet just like her sensation of pain. He knew this fight was turning sour and he had no other options now; he managed to reach behind him and, in a stroke of luck, grabbed the gun from Shitora's holster as she fell to the ground behind him. Her three opponents had joined Ranbou's remaining three and he was now faced with six. The last six standing of the initial ten.

He removed his own gun, hoping the feeling in his left hand stayed with him long enough to finish this. The wolf demon gritted his teeth and cocked back the two nine shooters, narrowing his ice blue eyes as blood streaked his tan face from a cut on his forehead.

As the six fighters facing him readied their bloody claws, one of them grunted, "We already went over this, wolf demon. One bullet won't kill a demon."

Ranbou spat out the pool of blood collecting in his cheek and retorted brazenly, "Yeah? How bout a bunch of bullets?"

The gun shots rang out crassly across the morning light, which was dull and red like a sailor's warning. Ranbou's bullets stuck true in every demon's body, at least two apiece hitting their marks if not three. Those who weren't dead had at least fallen unconscious and Ranbou knew that, technically, the fight was his and Shitora's. The thud of bodies crashing down in puddles of blood was barbaric, raw and disgusting, but he could thinking of nothing more beautiful. As Ranbou gazed at the sun, which was peeking over the ocean horizon, the feeling in his left hand disappeared completely and his body collapsed to the side, directly adjacent to Shitora's. He was, consequently, facing her and could see her amber eyes half hooded; she was awake.

Their blood mixed on the ground as they stared at each other, not knowing whether to feel relieved that they'd survived the fight or worried that they wouldn't survive the hour. It all seemed to matter less and less as ice blue and amber danced; at least they were together.

"We won," Ranbou grunted, a harsh sound which almost made Shitora smile, if her lips had chosen to work.

"Yeah," she whispered in reply, chest beginning to give a dull ache as blood poured from her open wounds. "I'm a little surprised."

This provoked a chuckle from Ranbou, whose lungs and chest were working fine if not for the cut on his stomach. He could see that Shitora's trouble breathing was increasing, no doubt from injuries from the "x" marking her chest. He could feel that simmering anger in him, the mad demon possessiveness responding to the harm inflicted upon his girlfriend, but he didn't have the time to act on it; besides, he already had really. They were all dead, if not close enough. He'd done the demon thing. Now he could do the boyfriend thing.

"I know I never told ya enough, Sukini," he murmured as his consciousness began to leave him; the wound on his shoulder was the most severe inflicted during the fight and both of them were aware. "I never told ya enough...that I love ya."

Shitora felt that rare prick of tears in her eyes as she lay there in the street, a mess of blood, grease and silver white hair, strewn across the pavement and surrounded by the bodies of the slain. She cried tears of...was it happiness? Or sadness? She wasn't sure. But she thought it might've been both. "I love you too, wolf boy."

Ranbou gave a small smiled, his ice blue eyes twinkling dimly before he released a breath and they rolled back in his head. He was silent and Shitora felt a coldness grip her insides, one not associated with the lacerations on her skin. That absence, that desperation, the one constricting her lungs now...that was the feeling of losing the one she loved, wasn't it?

"Don't take him," she whispered, a small sound across the pavement, almost like the skidding of a leaf. "He's everything...he's everything to everyone...to me...please...don't..."

But Shitora didn't stay conscious long enough to finish her plea to the Gods she'd never recognized. Soon, she felt herself joining the blackness which Ranbou had accepted some seconds ago. Had Ranbou been awake long enough to hear Shitora's make-shift prayer, he would've remembered a dream he'd had two months ago; in his dream she'd screamed those words to a raining sky...but in real life a whisper had meant so much more.

Kagome spat out the blood collecting in the pocket of her cheek and closed her eyes, trying to focus her energy on something happy or inspiring. Her wrists and back ached from their strict confines, though her captor wasn't in to the simple handcuffs or ropes. No, he was slightly more perverse than that.

At the current time, she was hanging, suspended, from the wide arms of a large steel cross, made from throwing together junk yard scrap and screws; her feet were dangling below her, in line with the vertical beam, and she could feel blood running down her legs. Of course, this blood was also running down her arms and chest, but nothing incredibly serious had been done to her quite yet. She had a feeling that Naraku was biding his time.

After she was taken from the warehouse, Kagome had been transported to Spider headquarters where she was met at the door by a smiling Naraku. He hadn't said much on their way inside, only something vaguely cliché like "I hope you'll be comfortable here." After that, he'd escorted her through a mess of industrial looking hallways in the back of the Spider headquarters, which Naraku referred to as a warehouse, and into an open main room which resembled the Fang warehouse in design. It was just as large, which made Kagome slightly confused; she'd been under the impression that the Fang's were significantly more wealthy than the Spiders, but she supposed this could be why; it seemed that Naraku wasn't exactly tight with his cash. The warehouse was outfitted with a number of strange looking weapons, guns which fascinated Kagome but were unrecognizable in her mental magazine.

Kagome had been rather surprised by the lack of brutality up to this point, but she was soon proven naive as one of the Spiders held her from behind and another tore off her clothes, leaving only her underwear. She barely even had time to think about what could potentially happen before she was suspended on the cross and cut five times with a switch blade, once on each of her shoulders, once at the top of each thigh and once on the skin just below her neck. The cuts were shallow but long, meant to bleed and produce a gruesome effect, which they most certainly did.

It had been approximately two hours since then and, at the current time, Kagome was staring vehemently down at a group of drunken Dragons who'd decided to play a healthy game of "peg the prisoner with rocks." Even drunk, their aim was unfortunately good and Kagome had been struck quite a few time in the face, most notably with a large rock on her cheek bone. She'd always wondered what having a black eye would be like, but she didn't have to wonder anymore; she snorted wryly to herself as another smaller stone caught her in the jaw. She was already bleeding from the lip, which was the main source of the blood in her mouth; she didn't feel so much tortured as she did angered. Perhaps before she'd been exposed to the Wildcats, she might've found this position horribly compromising and she might even be scared. Currently, she was wondering where Naraku had gotten his flair for theatrics (a.k.a the cross and the blood) and why she wasn't embarrassed to be strung up in only her underwear. _Probably because you walk around nearly nude in the warehouse, just like everyone else, _she thought to herself, smiling a bit. She really had grown fond of everyone; Kagome had never felt so loved in Kyoto as she did here. In Tokyo, everything was...right.

As a particularly large rock struck her in the breast and the Dragons below gave a drunken cheer, Kagome sighed; well, everything but this.

Before she could think another thought, the door to Kagome's left swung open and Naraku strolled inside, glancing at the scene before him before growling, "Get out, you stupid fucks."

The Dragons scrambled out the door, breaking a beer bottle on their way, and Naraku rolled his crimson eyes, finally returning his attention to Kagome. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands, staring up at his prisoner as what little light there was caught his dark curls strangely. Kagome had noticed before that Naraku was not unattractive, if not for the sick glimmer in his eye; that alone was enough to deter any girl, besides the odd Vixen. But his build almost reminded her of, dare she say, Inuyasha. It was slight but muscular, the right proportions for the right height; he could've been any normal person walking on the streets. It was odd to think that anyone on the sidewalk could be an insane, perverse psycho-killer.

"I'm waiting for you boyfriend to get her," Naraku said coolly, crimson eyes searching Kagome's strong brown ones for signs of wavering. When he saw none and she said nothing in return, he continued. "When I kill him, you'll be my prize. Not that you aren't already." At this, he held up the paper in his hands. "Do you know what this is?" Kagome could barely make out writing on the page and a line at the bottom, but she only stared back at him. "Well," he said lowly, "it's a contract. A contract that only works here in the North. One where the signer doesn't have to be willing. Since you're not technically part of the South, if I have your blood on this paper, I can make you part of the North without any say whatsoever. Isn't that interesting?"

His voice was so smooth and yet so gritty that Kagome could barely bear to hear it another moment. She knew what he'd just told her was incredibly bad news, but she was preoccupied with finding a way out of this mess; his villainous threats were of little consequence to her unless he acted upon them, which he didn't seem keen on doing until he got an audience. His theatrical edge was still half carrying him in this situation and Kagome was perfectly aware.

"Think about what I just told you and decide who your true enemies are," Naraku said quietly, though Kagome could hear him well enough. This comment, while enemy propaganda, was also somewhat worth considering; Kagome didn't have the stomach to really think about it, however, and allowed it to drift into the deep, cavernous back of her mind where she'd put so many thoughts lately. Kikyo, her unofficial membership to the Fangs, calling her mother, responding to the University scout who'd contacted her two days earlier. Everything seemed to be in the back of her mind. _I should've known that all of this was too good to be true; there was no way I could just get a bunch of friends, a boyfriend and a home in one summer without something fucking up._

"Naraku!"

Both Kagome and Naraku turned towards the door where an enraged Ryuukoytsusei had just entered, broad shoulder form alive with wrath. His crimson eyes burned so hotly that Kagome feared he might actually burst into flame, but his rage was obviously not directed at her. The emerald haired dragon demon crossed the space between him and Naraku in three short seconds, wrapping one tattooed, clawed hand around Naraku's pale throat.

Naraku however, seemed unalarmed by this attack and only stared levelly back at the Dragon leader. "Yes, Ryuu?"

"Who the fuck are you to order around my men?! I was just informed that six of my elite are dead because they were ordered by you to intercept some sort of recon attempt an hour ago!"

A flame of hope erupted in Kagome's gut and she could swear the room was a single bit brighter as she stared down at the two men, hoping that Ryuu might just kill Naraku off right there. He certainly looked mad enough, though he always seemed rather mad.

"How did that go, by the way?" Naraku asked casually, as though Ryuu's hand wasn't seconds away from cracking his windpipe in two.

"All but two who went are dead!" Ryuu roared madly, fangs bared and crimson eyes boring holes into Naraku's skull.

"But what about the recon attempt?" Naraku probed, looking slightly irritated by Ryuu's insistent talk of the dead.

"It failed," came Ryuu's quiet growl; he seemed unwilling to admit that any part of Naraku's plan had succeeded. "But do you know who one of the recon agents was? Someone I specifically ordered you to never touch. Ever."

Kagome's interested piqued at the this and she furrowed her brow; Ryuu was protecting someone in the South?

Naraku chuckled darkly, teasing the larger man, "You're beautiful yet unattainable half demon girl. Like I told you Ryuu, I'll do what I have to to get my way. And if that includes killing off a few of your two-cent fucks on the way-"

But Naraku never got to finish his sentence. Ryuukoytsusei let out a howl so piercing that Kagome felt chills encase every single one of her bloody limbs; she'd never heard a dragon's cry before and she hoped she never did again. Ryuu threw Naraku angrily against the wall, which was some twenty feet away, and turned on his heels, storming towards the door with defiance apparent in every single stride.

Kagome looked over at Naraku's body, hoping to god it didn't move, though her hopes were crushed as the Spider leader stood calmly to his feet, looking almost unaffected by Ryuukoytsusei's impressive assault. He wiped a trail of blood from his temple, where he'd struck the wall, and smiled rather sadistically. "Did you have something else to say to me, Ryuu?"

The man in question, who had nearly exited the room didn't even pause as he snarled curtly, "They're coming."

Kagome and Naraku both knew that "they" meant the South's retrieval mission and Kagome closed her eyes momentarily, thanking the Gods. Naraku seemed just as pleased, strangely enough and, as Ryuu left the room, he walked calmly towards the wall where a great many strange looking guns were anchored. He approached one, which was about the length of a rifle and finished with blue chrome. It resembled something out of a low-budget sci-fi movie, but Kagome had a feeling it was more than just a show piece. Naraku hefted it in his arms, staring down the sight as his fangs glittered in the light.

"What the hell is that?" Kagome demanded hotly, speaking for the first time.

Naraku glanced up at her and replied proudly, "This is the gun that's going to win me Salter, little girl."

"Is one damn street really worth all this?!" Kagome yelled, finally voicing her true thoughts on the matter. She couldn't understand why everyone was so alarmed by the issue of one simple street, one which barely even mattered in her mind.

But Naraku's look held a good deal more contempt this time as he met her eyes. "If that's all you think of this conflict, then it's no wonder the Wildcats haven't invited you in yet; it's all about pride. I was going to have you help me with this, since you seem to be so good with guns," the man said, smirking at this obviously intended sexual pun. "But I think I can handle it on my own. All you have to do with this one is point and shoot."

"You can get pride other ways," Kagome argued, ignoring his lewd comment and ominous last words.

This didn't even phase Naraku, who was standing by the doorway as though expecting someone. "Pride is what it's all about and every gang leader will tell you that. Pride is power and power is in property and money. So therefore, property is what I need."

"I've heard you could use some money too," Kagome replied smartly, trying to ignore the satisfied grin on Naraku's face...like the cat who'd just caught the mouse. What exactly did those guns do?

Naraku let out a sound of triumph as several Spider members began pouring into the room, nodding to him and talking amongst themselves as they retrieved the odd blue chrome guns from the walls, finally leaving it empty. Kagome expected that there might've been twenty of them altogether, though she wasn't quite sure; everything looked strange from her point of view on the cross.

"What the hell are those?" Kagome shouted to those below.

Naraku just smiled mysteriously as the other men laughed, many catcalling her as they prepared their weapons. "You'll find out soon enough. We're going to go give your friends a nice reception." With this, he turned to the men and yelled, "Move out!"

As they left, Kagome noticed that not a single Dragon, Spider or Vixen was still standing around; she'd been watched by at least four before and visited by countless others, who jeered at her or threw rocks to show their appreciation. But now the room was completely empty. "What, no guards?" she shouted cheekily.

Naraku glanced over his shoulder as he ushered the last man out, replying darkly, "No one's going to get this far, princess."

Kagome swallowed thickly, tasting the blood as it went down; this was looking far worse by the minute. And she suddenly had a bad feeling in her gut. A terribly bad feeling.

**I'm done! Wow! That took, like, everything I had to write that. The next chapter is basically going to drain my life, then. Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers and I would like to answer a very popular question:**

**When is Kagome going to become a Wildcat?**

**Answer: Well, wouldn't you like to know? Isn't that the point of the story? Hahahaha! I leave you in suspense!**

**KOLU**


	31. 2nd Stage: Infiltration

**Alright guys, here I am, back again and ready to go! I was really excited by the positive feedback in the last chapter and, with everyone's help, I hope we can make it to 300 reviews on fanfiction and close to 200 on Mediaminer! I think fanfiction's goal is more realistic, but I have faith in my Mediaminer fans. **

**Okay, well this one is totally action packed. Not nearly as action packed as the next one but, like, DAMN, lot's of action in here. We're coming to the climax, so prepare yourself for lots and lots of anime like action-angst!**

**Read on!**

Shitora awoke with a start, feeling as though she'd only closed her eyes for a moment; she could hear shouting and clamoring around her, echoing off the high ceilings of what she recognized as the Fang warehouse. Her chest ached, but her hanyou powers had begun to take effect and the cuts were scabbing over, as someone had taken the liberty of cleaning the wounds and bandaging them snugly. Shitora noticed that she was wearing no shirt and was rather confined in a white-bandage tube top sort of thing, but that was the least of her worries. She began looking frantically around for that familiar pair of ice blue eyes, framed by midnight black hair.

Footsteps approached her and she jerked her head towards the newcomer, who turned out to be Akago, crimson eyes a simmering orange behind his spectacles. His hair was braided back and he was wearing a venetian shirt and tight black pants, making him look like some sort of swashbuckler from the 1800s, which would've caused Shitora to laugh if it hadn't been so attractive.

"Where's Ranbou? Is he alright? Did he make it? D-"

Akago cut off the girl's many questions with an upraised hand as he checked her wounds, peering beneath the bandages on her arms where a few deep gashes were located. After a moment, he murmured, "Ranbou is awake and moving, with or without my permission or advisement. How do you feel?"

"Fine, I'm fine," Shitora replied shakily, suddenly feeling shivers encasing her body. "Where is he? I need to see him..."

As she renewed her search, Akago sighed and directed her eyes towards the front of the warehouse, where the source of the commotion could be seen. Gang members were running about, arming themselves with weapons and generally outfitting themselves for war, shouting to each other as they ran back and forth between stations. She could vaguely make out the back of Shippo's head from where he sat in a chair, facing several computer and TV screens she couldn't remember being there that morning; Souten was standing behind his chair, watching him work nervously. It wasn't until she heard the sound of a drill that she finally felt somewhat at ease; mechanics always made her that way. The direction of the drill noise seemed to be the same direction that Akago was pointing so, without another word, Shitora pushed gingerly off the table in her bandage-tube top and black leather pants, walking as quickly as she could towards the sound.

She manuevered her way distractedly around the scurrying gang members, feeling like a passersby in Times Square, as she approached the motorcycle area on the far left. As she neared, she could vaguely make out a familiar broad back bent over a workbench, drilling away at what appeared to be a Yamaha broadside body kit. Without another thought, she began hurrying towards him, exclaiming, "Ran!"

Ranbou glanced over his shoulder, grinning brilliantly as Shitora launched herself into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging his neck fiercely. He managed to hold her up with only his right arm, as his left was still recovering from the extensive shoulder injury. Demon healing was fast, but not that fast.

"Hey baby girl, I'm glad you're awake," he said into her ear, making her want to cry even more than she already did. She decided, however, that far too much crying had already gone on in the past two days. She wasn't going to add any more to it and that was final.

"I'm glad your alive," she countered as his arm tightened gently around her midsection; he was obviously wary of her chest. "Where is everyone?"

As Ranbou set Shitora down on the ground, he turned to pick up where he'd left off on the body kit, pulling the drill trigger experimentally. "They already left for the invasion."

"What?! Without us?" Shitora demanded hotly, thoroughly enraged; she'd risked her life for this cause and they had the nerve to neglect her?

"No, I told them to go on ahead," Ranbou replied, shaking his head as he continued drilling calmly. He seemed completely unworried about all of this, as though he were just carrying on a normal day in the warehouse, fixing bikes and drinking beer. Shitora's wide eyes were trained on his back, watching the muscles moving beneath his wifebeater; how could he be so nochalant? "There we go," he said triumphantly as he finished the last screw, holding the piece of the body kit up to the light as he examined his work. "Put this on the Yamaha."

Ranbou tossed the piece to Shitora, who caught it quickly, watching as he hurried over to his motorcycle and kicked a piece of dented plastic back into place; apparently, their bikes had taken a bit of a beating during some point in the fight. "Ran-"

"Just do it, Sukini, or yer gonna miss that fight you want in on," Ranbou called back, grinning garulously before jogging over towards the computer set-up Shippo was so dilligently tending to.

Shitora, however confused, popped the body kit back on to the Yamaha and hurried in her boyfriend's wake; she was still rather fuzzy on what was going on, but as long as she got to be part of the invasion, she was happy. Shippo sat, back erect and eyes narrowed, as he adjusted the mouthpiece on his headphones and watched a few video camera hookups playing out across numerous screens. Shitora was momentarily reminded of the Matrix, but she said nothing of the kind; this was supposed to be serious.

"Inuyasha," Shippo said into the microphone. "Where are you?"

A voice crackled out of the speakers in response. "We're less than a mile out. She awake yet?"

Shitora realized he must've been talking about her and she bent down, practically commandeering the microphone as she said hurriedly, "Yeah, I'm awake, I'm coming!"

Ranbou grabbed on to Shitora's arm as she turned, preparing to drive recklessly off into the morning. "Hold up, baby girl, wait fer me. Shippo, see if you can get in touch with Ayame and Max."

Shippo nodded and reached over towards what appeared to be a switchboard, adjusting the frequency and pushing a few buttons to get in line with Mad Max's earpiece. Before the others left, Shippo offered six of them ear pieces and explained that, while he used the old blue prints of the Shark headquarters to navigate, he would keep in touch with them via microphone. As was part of the plan, the invasion squad would split in to six groups upon arrival and enter from six different angles, a sort of insurance to make sure that at least _someone _made it to the center most chamber where Kagome was most likely being held.

"Max, can you hear me?"

The line crackled and someone muttered, "Fucking piece of- Ship? You there mate?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Shippo replied, smiling a bit at Max's inability to work with electronics.

"Wotcha want, then?"

"Where are you?"

"Comin' up on the place, smells like a fuckin' sewer," Max replied; the dull roar of a motorcycle engine provided a buzz in the background. "Ran can meet us any time."

"Alright," Shippo replied. "Hold still for a minute; I'm sending him out now. Radio Inuyasha and get him to hold still too; Shitora is awake and ready to go."

The line clicked off and Shippo said, "Alright, you two can go meet your groups."

Shitora and Ranbou nodded before Ranbou hurried to prep the motorcycle and Shitora ran back to pull on a shirt over her bandages, pain and discomfort suddenly forgotten; the adrenaline was already pumping in her veins. Akago came walking out of the storage room as Shitora pulled on her wifebeater, grabbing the keys to her motorcycle, which had been laid next to her makshift sickbed.

The demon smiled cooly, eyes taking on a crimson edge as he murmured, "Are you going to meet them?"

"Yeah," Shitora replied distractedly as she reached for her belt, checking to make sure her gun had been reloaded. "Are you gonna head out soon?"

"As soon as-"

But Akago never got to finish his sentence for someone entered the room, a girl Shitora couldn't remember seeing before. She'd exited the storage room quite calmly, looking as though she belonged there, but Shitora couldn't help but be suspicious. Despite her suspicions, however, the hanyou's seppanyoukai wasn't even raising it's head. Why didn't she feel threatened?

The girl had magnificent blonde locks, which fell in waves somewhere past her mid-back, and the most intriguing violet eyes...Shitora's brow furrowed. She remembered knowing someone with violet eyes, but they certainly weren't a woman. The only pair of violet eyes she'd ever seen belonged to-

"Gan," Akago greeted with a slight inclince of his head, tone surprisingly placid.

The girl avoided Akago's gaze, never meeting his eyes as she continued staring at the ground. "Akago," she murmured quietly, before continuing, "I'm leaving."

"I knew you would be," the Shark leader replied in kind. The two of them were so quiet, Shitora was quite sure that a human wouldn't have heard them. It was a wonder the girl could hear Akago's words at all.

"I'm sorry to have caused you trouble. If you'll excuse me," the girl said, glancing up at Shitora and giving her a brief nod before walking purposefully towards the front of the warehouse. Shitora watched her go, eyes wide as her mind began putting together the most impossible series of events.

"That wasn't..." she mumbled, glancing at Akago with questions evident in her stare.

"It was," Akago replied bitterly. "She fooled us all quite well, don't you think? A brilliant performance. She used scent masker; we never would've known."

Shitora desperately wanted to sit down on the floor and ponder this strange miracle, but Ranbou's voice jerked her out of her haze. She remembered quite suddenly that she had a job to do and, offering Akago a look which could best be described as pitying but tough, she pocketed her keys and began jogging towards her boyfriend. Ranbou had apparently seen Gan exiting the warehouse, for he asked confusedly, "Who was that girl?"

"That was Gan the Gun," Shitora replied, still stunned herself. "Akago kind of explained it...not really. I dunno. We've gotta go."

"Wait...what?" Ranbou called after her, watching blurrily as his girlfriend threw on her helmt and began to mount her motorcycle.

"Bo, c'mon!" she called urgently, snapping him out of his trance; this other matter would have to wait until the invasion was resolved.

As Shitora and Ranbou pulled out of the warehouse, speeding off on their newly modified motorcycles towards the groups, Akago calmly approached Shippo and said, "Tell Sesshomaru I'm coming to meet them; I'll be there in less that a minute."

Shippo nodded, frowning slightly as Akago walked towards his car, boot heels clicking and chains rattling as his white braid swung back and forth. Shippo could tell the Shark leader was hurting inside, though he wasn't quite sure to what extent or why. Just before the others left, Akago had carried on a hushed conversation with Sesshomaru, who's eyebrows had raised indefinitely, before they both entered the storage room and came out looking bitter. Word had spread quickly that Gan the Gun was not who he seemed and was in fact a she, but Shippo, for some reason, wasn't incredibly surprised. Somehow, looking at Gan as a woman was easier than looking at him as a man; Gan had always seemed uncomfortable as a boy.

The young fox demon was sure that this incredibly discovery would've been magnified twenty fold if the invasion hadn't been taking place. Thanks to the unfolding war, Gan's newly uncovered gender was simply regarded with great surprise as the others suited up. Shippo was quite sure it hadn't dawned on everyone yet just how big of a deal this would turn out to be. Someone had pretended to be the opposite sex, for Christ's sake; it was magnanimous!

The sound of Akago's tires crunching on the gravel broke Shippo from his thoughts and he quickly got back to his duties.

"Sesshomaru? Akago is on his way."

Kouga shifted his weight slightly as his rear end began to go numb; he, Skull and Hiten had been sitting outside the North entrance to the Spider headquarters for the past thirty minutes awaiting instructions. Kouga was desperately craving a cigarette, though he knew a trail of smoke would obviously give away their position; he almost released a whine in the back of his throat. Waiting made him anxious.

Kouga, Skull and Hiten were the speed group; all three of them were fleet of foot and light on their toes. They fit into the center of Sesshomaru's brilliant plan for it was their duty to retrieve Kagome from captivity once they arrived in the center chamber and encountered what would surely be an altercation. It was the Fang leader's hope that, while the other groups distracted Naraku's attention, the three speed demons could safely smuggle Kagome out of the warehouse and get her treated. Sesshomaru was figuring rather nasty wounds into the plan, for it was well known that Naraku became perverse with his female prisoners.

The speed group was currently sitting behind a group of boxes, shielded from view as the Northern entrance guards looked obliviously on. The two guards happened to be human, which was a blessing, before they couldn't sense or smell anything out of the ordinary. They also happened to be out of hearing distance, so whispered plans were no longer dangerous.

Skull winced as his back began to grow stiff from where he was sitting against a crate; his blonde hair created a curtain in front of his face as he rolled his shoulders, sighing impatiently. "This is a fair lot, then. I'm sick of waiting."

"Who isn't?" Hiten murmured, crimson eyes trained whimsically on the sky.

"What with the way they got themselves beaten up, should Ran and Tora even be coming?" Skull continued. His blue eyes were conflicted; he was truly worried about his friends.

Kouga glanced around the box again, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, and said absent mindedly, "Eh, you know them. They wouldn't miss this for anything."

Just as Kouga said this, his ear piece began to crackle and he placed a hand to it, trying to get it in a comfortable position. "Come in, Kouga," a voice said, obviously that of Shippo.

"Yeah, I'm here," Kouga said, glancing over at Skull and Hiten, who looked up in excitement as they made contact with someone for the first time since they arrived.

"We start the infiltration in thirty seconds; get into position."

Kouga motioned for Skull and Hiten to rise, which they did to a safe distance where their heads were still hidden by the boxes. Kouga glanced down at his watch, which he'd synchronized with the others groups before they left the warehouse. 23, 22, 21...

On the opposite side of the warehouse at the South entrance, Shitora had just joined Bankotsu, Inuyasha and Axle in the weapons group. The weapons group was in charge of putting Naraku and his allies under heavy fire as the speed group made away with Kagome, so their entrance and timing was crucial. Shitora had parked her bike about a half mile away and sprinted the rest of the distance, arriving in the specified alley where the others were getting ready to move out.

Inuyasha glanced up as his sister, smiling faintly as she jogged towards him. "Hey kid."

"Hey," she replied breathlessly, glancing down at the pile of guns on the ground before beginning to outfit herself with a few. "Sorry I'm late."

"Thought you were gonna miss the party," Bankotsu said cheekily, giving her a crimson wink as he redid his black braid in a tighter fashion.

"And a party with guns besides that," Axle entered in, eyes twinkling kindly. He flexed his brawny limbs routinely before letting out a yawn, running a hand along his sky blue cornrows. "Guess riding through the night finally hit me, then."

Shitora strapped an automatic weapon across her back, hissing a little as she torqued her torso too much. Bankotsu furrowed his brow and asked, "You alright, Tora?"

"Fine, just stiff. It won't get in the way," she promised, meeting eyes with her brother as she said this.

Inuyasha offered his sister a nod, but she was the least of his worries. He was confident that Shitora could hold her own, no matter what kind of injuries she was suffering from; it was Kagome he was really concerned about. She was in the hands of a madman, not even a mile away from him, and the desire to go charging in, shooting blindly was quite tempting. He knew Sesshomaru wasn't going to put up with any of his impulsive decisions, a fact he'd made clear by knocking Inuyasha unconscious at the mere insinuation, but Kagome's smiling face kept appearing in his mind. He wanted his Kagome, to hold her and take in her scent, and he wanted her now.

"Easy mate," Axle murmured, placing a comforting hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "You're twitching."

Inuyasha nodded distractedly and tried to calm his hands, which were clenching and unclenching almost without his knowledge. They wanted to spill Naraku's blood until the gutters ran red, but he was going to stick with Sesshomaru's plan; its outcome would no doubt be better than that of his plan. Of course, Inuyasha plan was simply shoot to kill until no one from the North was breathing, but that was beside the point. Inuyasha momentarily satiated himself with remembering that, by the end of the day, Naraku would be dead.

"Inuyasha?"

At the sound of Shippo's voice in his ear, Inuyasha jumped and let out a soft curse. "Jesus, Shippo, stop freakin' me out!"

"Sorry. Move out in thirty seconds."

As Shippo crackled off the line, Inuyasha mumbled something mutinous and announced that the group would be moving out within the minute, earning nods from the others. Inuyasha cocked the release on the pistol he was holding and stared coldly down at the gun. Today the Spiders would pay. They would all pay.

According to the plan, on Shippo's word the six groups would come out of their hiding places and quickly take out the two guards at their specified entrance with a few well placed bullets from silenced pistols. It was imperative that the bullets hit their mark and every shooter aware, but no one had it in their hearts to be nervous; the only thing on everyone's mind was revenge.

Sango thought quiet thoughts of sweet revenge as she cocked back the pistol she was holding, glancing over at Rin; the two were currently camped out behind a deteriorating brick wall, located near the South West entrance. Both girls were holding weapons and preparing to take out the guards efficiently because they were needed inside the center chamber before the other groups. Sango and Rin's job was to distract Naraku and his guards until the others arrived, charging in from every possible direction with their weapons raised. Though Sesshomaru was hesitant to let Rin take up this job, she argued that she and Sango could keep Naraku talking long enough for the others to get in position. To this Sesshomaru had no answer; both girls were skilled talkers.

As Rin adjusted the grip on her pistol, staring down the sight at the silencing mechanism which Shippo had rigged for her, she thought briefly of Kagome, who handled this gun more than its owner. Her cousin's laughter and snarky comments echoed in her head as Rin tried to shake them away and focuse on her job; if she didn't focus, it would be all for naught.

"Go."

As soon as the word came over Sango's earpiece, she gave a nod to Rin and the girls placed their fingers on the trigger, staring at the oblivious guards lingering outside the entrance. They squeezed the triggers in unison and let out simultaneous breaths of relief as both guards fell in heaps to the ground, hit straight through the heart by both bullets. Luckily, the girls had managed to get within a close enough range that missing was less likely, but the possibility was always there.

Rin took a deep breath and muttered, "Let's go."

"That was pretty damn easy."

Ayame shrugged her shoulders as smoke drifted lazily from her cigarette; she had to admit that Ranbou was right. After taking out the guards with a few well placed bullets, Ayame, Ranbou and Mad Max had made their way easily inside, almost like strolling into a restaurant. They'd expected to meet Spiders the minute they stepped in the door, but they hadn't seen a single Spider since they entered the headquarters.

Upon entering, they were met with the sight of a narrow hallway, which had several doors and pathways leading off from it. Shippo reported that he had no record of such a place in the old blue prints, which had made Ranbou curse. His and Shitora's failure to retrieve new blue prints was beginning to seem more and more unfortunate by the second.

After wandering blindly for a while, the three had entered a random room with only a table and some chair inside. Knowing it was pointless to wander around in the maze, they decided to sit for a while and have a few cigarettes; the whole place smelled like cigarette smoke anyway, so who would know?

"It's kinda like they were letting us in," Ayame mused, running her hands along her leather clad thighs.

Max nodded, gnarled face contorted in a frown. "They're not the fuckin' idiots we take them for; they've got a plan just like us."

"Don't say shit like that," Ayame replied dully, snubbing out her cigarette on the counter. "Makes me nervous."

"It damn well should," Ranbou murmured. He leaned back against the wall as he blew a few perfect smoke rings, finding them strangely unsatisfying. He, like the others, was itching to go in and get the job done. He felt as though he needed to gain back what honor he'd lost by failing in his previous mission to retrieve the blue prints. Being an assassin for a living and finding yourself unable to complete a simple recon job was startling and made him cringe. He briefly wondered what Shitora was doing at that exact moment, but he soon dismissed the thought; thinking about his girlfriend would only lead to distraction and that was what cost them before.

"S'far as I can tell, we're pretty fuckin' close to the center chamber," Max mentioned, smoke spilling out of his twisted mouth. His red mohawk seemed abbrassive in the colorless room, but he was a pretty abbrassive fellow in the first place. He simply pocketed his hands, causing several chains to rattle. "We might as well just wait it out until the other get their shit together, know what I mean?"

Ranbou nodded as he threw his cigarette to the ground crushing it beneath his boot toe. "Yeah. But maybe we can smell around for Kagome's scent. I wanna know where the center is for sure."

"We could try," Ayame agreed, pushing herself off the table. "If the plan doesn't work out, somebody's gotta grab her and get away before things get ugly. She's probably already beaten up."

At the thought, the two boys grew steely eyed and gave curt nods; when other gangs messed with their women, gang men in general seemed to become incredibly defensive and hostile. Despite the fact that Kagome wasn't technically part of the South, she still had her place in their hearts and nothing could change that. Even Max, who'd only met her at Race Wars, regarded her with the highest respect; she could shoot like the devil and keep Inuyasha in check, so she was obviously worth his time.

The three demons exchanged glances before nodding and exiting the room, trying to pick up Kagome's scent above the countless others.

"Wait, I still don't get it. Why'd you stay away so long?"

Kinanme let out a heavy sigh as she rolled her ice blue eyes, staring frustratedly over her shoulder at Ginta and Hakkaku. For the past thirty minutes since they'd entered through the North West gate, both wolf demons hadn't wasted a moment before showering her with questions about her recent reappearance in Tokyo, confused as to why she left in the first place. Kinanme was well acquainted with both Ginta and Hakkaku for they'd been friends of Ranbou's since their younger years in elementary school. This didn't, however, change the fact that she was trying to concentrate on the job at hand.

Bones narrowed his green eyes thoughtfully as he pocketed his hands, staring down the seemingly endless hallway curiously. They'd been walking this hall since they arrive inside the warehouse and it seemed positively endless. It almost seemed like a trap, but Bones was sure the Spiders hadn't erected something so elaborate just for the Fangs. Maybe this had once been an office building or something of the sort; the blueprints never indicated as such, but then again the blueprints could be wrong.

"I've said it a million times, but I'll say it again; we needed time," Kinanme said curtly, never meeting Ginta or Hakkaku's eyes as she stared vehemently forward.

Hakkaku cocked his head to the side, upsetting the balance of his mohawk. "Time? For what?"

"To think about things. And to be away from everything," Kinanme replied, trying to keep herself occupied looking for a way out of the hallway.

"Were you mad at your dad?" Ginta asked curiously.

"Kind of," the girl allowed.

"But wh-"

"Why don't you two cut it out for the time being, ay?" Benkan interrupted, flashing the group a brilliant smile but managing to be commanding nevertheless. Ginta and Hakkaku exchanged glances and shrugs before returning to the original task at hand: looking for the center chamber.

Kinanme narrowed her eyes and zeroed in her gaze on a small black device anchored at the ceiling joint. It was some feet ahead, not within range of them quite yet, and she held out her arm to bar the others before raising her silenced gun. She took out the surveillance camera with ease, watching as it shattered and fell to the floor. Bones smiled and ruffled the girl's hair fondly.

"That's our Kina," he said with a smile.

"Wolves are really observant, at least when they're _focused,"_ Kinanme replied, shooting a deliberate look back at Ginta and Hakkaku.

As the two wolf demons cowered behind him, Benkan adjusted his ear piece and said, "Can anyone hear me?"

After a moment, a few voices crackled over the line and said various forms of, "Yes." Benkan walked over to the broken video camera and examined its remains as he said, "Looks like they've got video cameras; Kina took it out before it saw us, but keep an eye sharp, ay?"

"Video cameras? Fuck."

"Max, it oughta be no problem fer you," Inuyasha reminded him. "Do yer little electronic zap thing."

"Oh, fuck yeah!"

Benkan clicked off the line and sighed, placing his hands thoughtfully on his hips. "Well, the others are alright. Might as well keep searching, mates."

The others nodded and followed behind Benkan, glancing at each closed door and wondering where the center of this labrynth could possibly be.

Kouga, Skull and Hiten were encountering the same problem as their friends; the hallways were all identical. Though there wasn't much light, they could see the numerous doors lining the walls, all of them the same color and make, and occasionally, they would come across a video camera. Skull easily took care of the video cameras with a few well placed bullets, but Kouga was more worried about finding the center chamber; at this rate it seemed impossible.

The three of them were talking amiably as they went, not at all afraid of meeting Spiders. If they met any kind of resistance, they would just take them out, no questions asked. So why not talk while they went?

"I'm confused as to how you ended up dating my sister," Kouga admitted, giving Skull a sheepish grin. "I wouldn't've pulled that one out of a hat."

"Me neither," Hiten laughed, giving Skull a friendly punch to the shoulder.

Skull shrugged, smiling his usual garulous smile. "I dunno. When she first came, we hated each other, fought all the time; somewhere in between there and here, we...uh..."

"Fell in love?" Kouga offered, unabashed by the idea. After all, he was in love with Ayame so it stood to reason that other couples were falling in love as well.

The blush which rose to Skull's cheeks was unmistakable and Hiten chuckled, exclaiming smugly, "The great Tobi Skull blushing; what the hell man? Are you really? With Kina?"

Skull glanced down at the floor, trying to hide his smile; so what if he was? Kouga and Hiten seemed to understand and they simultaneously patted him on the back in a brotherly fashion. They were just passing what seemed to be their millionth door when Hiten jerked back, crimson eyes wide and hackles raised indefinitely. Both Skull and Kouga whirled around to face him, urgently searching around for anything amiss, but they found nothing.

"Hiten? Dude, what's wrong?" Kouga asked curiously.

In turn, Hiten narrowed his eyes and whirled to face the door to his right, staring so fiercely at it that holes might've appeared in the wood. "There's something electronic behind that door. And it ain't kosher."

Kouga's jaw tightened; Hiten was a thunder demon and, like Max, was very sensetive when it came to detecting electronic dangers. With a frown, Skull stared at the door and murmured, "Wanna go in then?"

Hesitating a sniff at the door crack, Kouga replied, "Well, there's no one in there, so might as well."

With a nod, Skull reached for the door knob and clutched in his hand, almost expecting some sort of shock to resonate through his body, though nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Finally, he turned the knob and pushed the door open, trying to adjust to the ink black darkness inside. Kouga and Hiten followed him tentatively into the mysterious room, allowing their fingers to dance along the tops of their weapons; the noiselessness made them nervous.

Kouga instinctively reached up his hand to look for a light switch and, surprisingly, found one on the left side of the doorway. None of the boys would ever forget what they saw there until the end of their days.

Every single wall in the room, which was at least thirty by twenty feet, was covered with weapons. Guns, grenades, flame throwers and others which were unrecognizable were anchored on hooks, an assortment of different colors and makes. Kouga couldn't identify more than ten of them for sure, which was saying something since there had to be well over four hundred in this room alone.

Skull let out a low whistle. "Damn," he murmured. "So these are the weapons Max was on about."

Kouga only nodded dumbly. "Yeah, guess so."

"This shit is dangerous," Hiten whispered, unable to bring his voice above this quiet level. "Real dangerous."

And neither Skull nor Kouga could argue; even without thunder demon powers, they were under the distinct impression that none of these weapons were among the garden variety. In fact, Kouga almost felt as though some of them were alive; there certainly seemed to be a strange pulse around the area.

"Let's get outta here," Kouga murmured to the others, who nodded. Quietly, they backed out of the room and turned off the light, closing the door behind them. The three boys, merriment forgotten, continued soberly down the hall with nary a word, looking for the center chamber in silence.

"_So let me see if I've got this. She pretended to be a boy for three years for some unknown reason and used scent masker to ensure that no demons would find out. And then she got hurt and something about...her breasts?"_

Akago, Sesshomaru and Kotone were in, perhaps, the most confusing place of all. While the other five groups contented themselves with the seemingly endless hallways of doom, the three demons were currently in the central electronics room, staring at a multitude of switchboards, blinking lights and circuit breakers. Sesshomaru had realized that, should the other parts of the plan fail, they needed a reasonable back up plan. His back up plan involved wiring the lights to turn off upon command which then left Axle, who had incredible night vision, to whisk Kagome away as the others involved themselves in an all out fight with the North. In the dark. The plan wasn't exactly perfect, but even Sesshomaru couldn't put together a flawless plan in an hour's time.

Since Kotone had left a few months before Gan arrived in the North, she was rather confused by the girl's gender issues and had been asking polite but curious questions for about a half hour. Akago seemed content answering said questions, a fact which Sesshomaru atributed to the desire for closure. The three of them were currently waiting for the system decoder to do its duty and, according to Shippo, it would take at least forty five minutes, a time during which they could only sit and wait. If the thick layer of dust surrounding the electronic equipment was any indication, the Spiders didn't make it their business to enter the control room anyway.

Sesshomaru translated Kotone's sign language and Akago furrowed his white brow, cocking his head to the side as though wondering if he could explain it more clearly. "Well, yes. The bit about breasts: I found out she was a girl the hard way. I was checking her wounds to see if they were healing nicely...and found breasts instead."

Kotone read his lips and made a small "o" with her mouth, as though finally understanding where breasts fit in to all of this. After a moment, she signed rather urgently, "_So she left? Why did you let her leave?"_

"Let her leave?" Akago asked almost indignantly after Sesshomaru's amused translation. "Good riddance as far as I'm concerned. She lied to me for three entire years of close, undying companionship, Kotone. It's not like I can honestly forgive that."

But Kotone only narrowed her ice blue eyes and signed irritatedly, "_Well, there had to be some reason why she did what she did. I don't just think she crossdressed for shits and giggles."_

Akago was quiet for the moment following Sesshomaru's interpretation of Kotone's signs, crimson eyes downcast on the flithy floor. He hadn't really thought about the numerous reasons why Gan might've done what she did; he'd been a little too preoccupied with the deed itself. Regardless of this all, Akago couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so betrayed by anyone, not even his whore of a sister. In fact...this betrayal meant even more than his foster father's drunken rages. All his life, Akago had been continuously abandoned, first by his parents, then by his foster parents, then by his sister and now this. If this wasn't any indication that he was meant to live alone, what was it?

A sudden beep jerked Akago out of his thoughts and Sesshomaru rose, glancing down at the small device which he'd used to unscript the system. "We have full access," he announced, glancing back at Kotone and Akago. "Now, Akago, go insert the timer in the lighting system."

Akago pushed himself off the counter on which he sat and glanced up the high wall at the many tangled wires leading towards the ceiling; he sighed. If only the Spiders had kept better care of their house electronics, he wouldn't have to do such a miserable task. After all, climbing half the wall just to insert a timing device seemed a little out of reach, no pun intended.

As Akago puzzled over the ten or so feet he now had to climb, Sesshomaru turned to Kotone and signed efficiently, "_The computer is yours."_

Kotone nodded and hurried over to the computer, typing as quickly as her fingers could carry her hands. The screen flashed to life before her eyes, reflecting in her very pupils as she decoded scripts and overlayed firewalls, finally at ease before the one thing in this world which could connect with her without a voice.

Meanwhile, Akago sighed and reached up his hand, finding a small ledge in the badly laid brick, before hoisting himself upwards at the beginning of his arduous climb. He had since placed the small timer in his teeth and Sesshomaru smirked.

"With that timer in your mouth, you look like a pirate right out of an Erol Flynn movie. Maybe its your shirt. Or your pants. Or...you."

"Shut up," Akago growled distractedly around the timer, trying to bypass stepping on as many cords as possible on his way up the wall.

Eventually, he'd scaled the necessary ten feet using only the brick as footholds; while this was no easy task by itself, he now had to insert the timing device while keeping himself steady against the wall. Now was when the real test of skill arose. Narrowing his eyes in concetration, Akago tightened his grip with his left hand and used his right hand to remove the timer from his mouth, looking at the wires nearest him. The timer belonged in between the red and green wires with the blue wire inserted in the back. This was all well and good until Akago noticed something odd.

"Purple? Yellow? Orange? Sesshomaru, what are all the rest of these wires?"

The dog demon glanced up and looked at the indicated wires, blinking before walking towards the power splitter and examining each of them. "Clever. These idiots apparently didn't know much about wire coding. None of these colors are correct."

Akago groaned; now the red, green and blue wires didn't do what they were supposed to. "What do we do now?"

"Hold on," Sesshomaru murmured. "Give me a moment."

Akago readjusted his grip on the wall, tactfully declining to mention that he barely had a second's worth of time remaining in his aching hands, nevertheless a moment. As Sesshomaru examined the wire box and began giving Akago instructions from the ground, Kotone smiled mysteriously to herself. She was in.

The computer light reflected in her eyes as she came across the numerous files keeping Naraku and his business files in order. As she sifted through the files, which documents a number of interesting incidents and transactions, her ice blue eyes gave a twinkle; there was enough in these files to keep Naraku quiet until the day of his death.

"Kotone, are you done?" Sesshomaru called, watching as Akago began climbing slowly down, the timer suspended by several wires above his head.

The girl turned, nodding slightly and pointing to the computer. _"We could practically indict him with all this."_

"Excellent," Sesshomaru murmured. "Hurry, Akago. We've got to find the center of this ridiculous place."

The moth demon arched his back, popping a few vertebrae as he muttered mutinously in reply, "Hold on, your majesty, I'm just realigning my spine after a death defying climb and a seven minute suspension with only my hands."

"Let's go," Sesshomaru said with a quick nod, exiting the room with Kotone in tow as though he'd never heard Akago's rebellion. Rolling his crimson eyes plantively, Akago wondered how he'd gotten himself in this mess before charging after his friends, trying to ignore the stinging in the back of his mind. If Gan had already left, why was her face still there?

"S-Sango?"

Dried blood on her neck nearly prevented Sango from turning her head, though she managed to angle her vision slightly to the right. "Yeah?" Her voice was a whisper, barely even escaping her mouth.

"Do you think we're..." Rin's words ended abruptly as she winced, numerous chains clamoring together and making a cold, distant noise. "-we're...gonna die here?"

Sango allowed her head to lean forward on her neck, lolling like the dead, as she pondered Rin's question. Sango could feel the skin on her wrists and ankles disappearing rapidly with each movement of her shackles, but she'd lost interest in skin some thirty minutes ago. Somewhere past the screaming, the struggling and the whipping, she'd lost interest in just about everything but escape. At the current time, she and Rin were in the worst position she could ever imagine.

The two girls had entered the warehouse easily, finding the guards pathetic enough that one could barely constitute them as obstacles. Upon arriving inside, however, they'd only managed to walk for about twenty minutes before they were ambushed by a select number of core Spiders. The two human girls were overpowered easily and dragged into a dark room, where they'd been chained to a wall and whipped mercilessly under a panther demon's direction. He kept repeating questions which Sango and Rin had no answers to.

"What kind of deal do the Fangs have with the Yakuza?"

"Where does Taisho get the boosted cars?"

"How much is made with each transaction?"

Rin and Sango had never really cared to ask their friends and boyfriends what went on for, frankly, they had little desire to know. As long as everyone came home safe at the end of the night, what did it matter? Sango had silently decided to let that one issue slide from under her radar; her relationship with Miroku wouldn't be disrupted by something as trivial as night time gang activities.

Blood dripped down Sango's face and smoothed a course along her cheek, dripping off her chin only to end with a drop on the floor below. A large red pool was already collecting beneath her and Sango was silently wondering if she and Rin would make it out alive like she was about to promise.

"We're not dying," Sango whispered, throat raw and sore from screaming with pain. It was a wonder that no one had heard them for, indeed, she and Rin screamed as loudly as possible in hopes to attract attention. Unfortunately, no one heard their cries for help and their supposed pain only served to excite their tormenters further. Only once they'd quieted down had the inquirers left them to hang from their shackles in silence.

"I never th-thought it would g-go this w-way," Rin choked out, trying to ignore the salty tears mingling with her blood as they dripped from her eyelashes. If only she could find herself in Sesshomaru's strong arms, snug against his chest as the world raged outside. Sesshomaru could protect her from anything...so where was he?

Sango winced as her chest began to ache; she'd obviously lost too much blood. The torturing itself was a blur to her, a bloody red blur with pain on its edges, but as she hung from her moorings, she could barely even recall a single moment of the whipping. It was as though she'd crept into the warehouse and suddenly arrived at her current location with blood wetting her skin, blinding her eyes and stuffing her nose.

"We have to get out," Sango ground out hoarsely. "I refuse to die here."

As these words echoed throughout the empty room, the expanse of which was beginning to frighten both girls, Sango gritted her teeth and rocketed her body forward, using the last energy she could muster to propel herself. She cried out in pain and Rin's scream soon joined hers, though the second was of a different manner.

"Sango, stop!"

The desire to move began to seep from her body and Sango sighed, eyelids threatening to close. "Just...I just have to..."

"No, Sango," Rin said quietly, tears dripping down her cheeks and mingling with her blood, which pooled on the floor beneath her. "Don't. If we're actually ever meant to leave here, someone will find us."

"But-"

"NO!" Rin shouted, coughing slightly as blood bubbled up in her throat. She wasn't sure why there was blood in her throat, but none of the possibilities were enjoyable to think about. Swallowing patiently, Rin continued in a gentle manner, "We wait. Don't move anymore. It'll only kill you faster."

At the mention of death, Sango tried to slow her breathing and glanced distractedly up at the ceiling, which she could barely make out in the darkness. She didn't fear death and frankly, neither did the others. They flirted with death on a regular basis, but she'd never come this close to an actual date. Several things about this situation made her uneasy, most notably the chains and the wounds, but other things were starting to get on her nerves. There was, for instance, the smell of the Spiders' hideout. It smelled like sex and beer. Not the good kind of Friday night party sex and beer, but the "I'm a slut, rape me" sex and the "I need to forget my pathetic life" beer. Then she also knew that her friends might be fighting for their lives as well and this unnerved her to the core. _And I've got this shitty buzzing in my ear..._

Buzzing.

In her ear.

"Rin," Sango practically whispered, swallowing blood and saliva almost disbelievingly. "I still...I still have the earpiece."

"What?"

"The earpiece. I still have the earpiece. In my ear."

Rin hesitated to glance over, in case this was just a farce, but she managed to shift her vision ever so slightly. "If you're joking, Sango..."

"I'm not," her friends whispered in reply. Closing her eyes softly, she managed to angle her head foreward until her hand was just touching her ear; the chain pulled at her skin and caused her to hiss, but she just barely brushed the comlink button with her thumb nail. The microphone snapped to life and soon a voice was radiating over the line.

"Sango? What's up," Shippo asked.

Sango nearly cried at the sound of the boy's voice, but she managed to compose herself. "Shippo..." she choked out. "Rin and I were captured. We're in a room somewhere, we don't know where..."

"What?! Captured?!" Shippo practically screamed, out of his mind with worry; he hadn't thought to check on Sango and Rin, as they were only the distraction team, but obviously he should've rethought this strategy. Shaking his head free of thoughts, the young kitsune began typing feverishly away at the keyboard, tracing Sango's headset. "Nevermind. Okay, I've got your longitude and latitude on the computer, I'll send someone over to get you. Just stay calm, okay?"

Sango swallowed and murmured, "Okay," before stretching her muscles to turn off the connection. She could barely process a thought as she hung there, wondering how, after a summer of blithe happiness and oblivious nothingness, she and her friends were caught in the middle of a raging war. This seemed rather anti-climatic, almost as though the mountain leading up to this peek of aggression hadn't amassed to anything. After all, could it really be considered a fight when only one side was manuevering successfully?

"This isn't real," Rin muttered, closing her eyes as more tears threatened to fall. "We're the good guys, right? We're the best. We've always been the best. So why are we losing?"

Sango didn't answer, instead staring at the ground with half hooded eyes which were barely striving to care. Somehow, that hope she'd learned from Miroku was beginning to slip away. How did she even know he was alive? Was he struggling against the Spiders just as they were? Had he even run across them? Too many questions. Sango almost had the urge to vomit, to purge herself of the questions, when she realized that this was the beginning of depressive suicide.

"I don't know why we're losing," Sango said finally.

The two girls hung in silence.

"HOW FUCKING MANY OF THESE BASTARDS CAN THERE BE?!"

Axle grunted and dropped to his knees, ignoring Inuyasha's shout as he steadied his machine gun on its steel legs before letting loose a string of bullets, which caught some ten Spiders in the chest at once. Blood exploded from cracked torsos, mixing with brief screams as men fell to the floor, landing on cold concrete or the bodies of the fallen. Axle sighed, eyes sparkling momentarily before he dodged behind a thick steel table, which Inuyasha, Shitora and Bankotsu were using as a shield. Bullets rang out in another spurt as the Spiders retaliated, shots clapping against the table as the Southerners tried to catch their breath.

Bankotsu wiped blood from his forehead, where a bullet had grazed the skin above his eye and lazily lit a cigarette. "This is a fucking fair crop."

The weapons group had only made it halfway to the monstrous building's center before being met with a group of seemingly neverending Spiders, all of whom were armed with pistols and shotguns. The two parties battles it out and, at the current time, the winner was uncertain; despite the small numbers from the South, the Northerners were obviously expendable underlings whom Naraku had dispatched to slow them down. When quality found itself faced with quantity, the odds were still iffy.

"I say we charge," Inuyasha murmured, blood staining his white hair and face.

Shitora nodded stiffly, echoing, "I say charge. Let's do it."

The siblings met eyes and could barely constrain their grins; however much they complained about this situation, they couldn't help but find a certain pleasure in it. Inuyasha soon remembered the nature of his mission and his smile fell indefinitely; his grin couldn't survive without Kagome. After giving brief nods to Bankotsu and Axle, who nodded in return, the four demons spun away from the protection of the steel table, listening as gun shots rang out on the floor, the ceiling, and whatever else they could possibly collide with.

Inuyasha managed to take out several Spiders with his semi-automatic while Axle continued wreaking havoc with his machine gun. Bankotsu had taken to using a shotgun, for reasons unknown, and was adding to the already monstrous noise with every solitary "boom." Shitora was weilding an automatic in each hand and rotating slightly at the torso, catching enemies in the chest and, often, the face.

Axle was just glancing up to make his next move when he noticed one of the Spiders fiddling with a small, circular device. In a moment's time, the Spider prepared to slide it along the floor towards the South and Axle managed to scream, "Scatter!" just before the inevitable happened.

The device exploded with tremendous force, shaking the rafters and walls of the room. It wasn't an altogether huge bomb, but any sort of explosion in an enclosed space is bound to cause troubles. Inuyasha, Bankotsu and Axle flew backwards, managing to escape the worst of the shrapnel as they shielded themselves with their arms. Shitora leaped in a different direction than her friends, as she had been keeping a safe distance so as not to accidentally shoot one of her own. She found herself huddled against the west wall, attempting to shield her face from the unbearable heat and her ears from the noise as the bomb. The girl was just about to look up and rejoin her group when a grimy smelling hand covered her mouth, sticky with sweat and smelling of blood. Shitora's amber eyes widened in surprise and fear as she attempted to scream, but to no avail. Arms soon appeared with the hand and dragged her backwards into an offset room where more problems awaited her.

The room was, like most of the others, completely barren and badly lit. Shitora struggled against her captor's hold but was soon released of their volition, leaving her to stare wildly around at a group of six more Spiders. The hanyou girl furrowed her brow and shouted in exasperation, "Where the fuck are you all coming from?! Naraku never had this many men before!"

The Spiders didn't answer but advanced, withdrawing knives from their belts as they closed in around her. Shitora clenched her hands and gritted her fangs, wishing she hadn't released her hold on her semi automatics during the explosion. Even with her claws, she didn't stand a chance; she was still suffering from the wound on her stomach and numerous injuries from the recent fight. Weakened and outnumbered, it look as though Shitora were in for a beating.

Something unexpected happened, however: what little light there was disappeared. The room went completely dark and Shitora became vaguely aware of a new presence before the choking sounds of death and the crunching of flesh and bone acosted her ears. She could smell liquids leaking from what she assumed were now dead bodies.

As quick as they retreated, the lights returned and Shitora blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the sight before her. The Spiders who had cornered her in this room were now lying in puddles of their own blood, each of them frozen in death with their eyes wide open and mouths agape. Wrenching her eyes away from the gruesome sight, Shitora turned her attention to the figure by the light switch. Her eyes narrowed for a perfectly good reason.

Ryuukoytsusei flexed his claws as he walked slowly towards her, leaning down briefly to wipe them free of blood on one of the victims' shirts. His crimson eyes were surprisingly dull as he glanced up at Shitora, observing her with the strangest blank expression on his face. Shitora remembered vaguely the fact that Dragon demons had impeccable night vision, which would explain the turning off of the lights, but the real question lay in Ryuu's original motives.

"Why?"

Ryuu said nothing in answer to Shitora's question, only continuing to stare blankly at the girl, who was growing increasingly crimson in the cheeks. As the dragon stared levelly at her, nearly drawing the life right out of her body, she could barely think of further words to say. He seemed content to look at her like this, searching, seething, frightening. Eventually, he seemed to grow either bored or nervous, Shitora couldn't tell, and turned on his heels to leave.

"Wait! I asked you a question!"

Ryuukoytsusei's emerald green hair shimmered ever so sightly in the dim lights as he glanced over his shoulder, muttering, "Everyone's death has a time. It's not your time." And with these cryptic and oddly genius words, Ryuu exited the room and only his scent remained, one of blood and mystery. Shitora stared, open mouthed, at the door before her. Had that really just happened? It was like Race Wars all over again...times seventy when it came to strangeness.

"Tora!"

At Inuyasha's frantic call, Shitora wrenched her mind away from Ryuu's appearance and screamed, "Coming!" before hurrying towards the main room, preparing to charge back into the fray.

"Is this it?"

Ranbou didn't answer Ayame's question, running his hand lightly over the door before them as he refereed an internal debate between his head and his heart. In his mind, he knew that getting Sango and Rin out of captivity and into their waiting arms was the safe, rational thing to do. In his heart, he knew that seeing them might just be the last thing anyone's fragile psyche could take. According to Shippo's radio message, both of the girls were probably in a bad way. Narrowing his ice blue eyes critically, he finally decided that heartache was better than heartbreak and he turned to Mad Max, who was standing stiffly to Ayame's left.

"Max, check fer electronics and whatever, would ya?"

Shrugging his bony shoulders, Max stepped forward and placed one of his tattooed hands flat on the door, grimacing slightly before he emitted a strange white wave, one which could possibly be described as a flash of lightning in the corner of your eye. There was a short buzz before the electrical hum in the air seemed to die and Ayame shivered; the hairs on the back of her neck had suddenly laid down. Max fearlessly turned the door handle and pushed it open, glancing at Ranbou and Ayame behind him. He was less worried about Ranbou, but Ayame...these were two of her dearest friends.

"Are you ready, love?"

The soft quality of Max's voice was startling, though not unpleasant. All the same, Ayame felt her face grow white as she realized what such a reaction must mean. Max was obviously preparing her. Closing her eyes, she could vaguely remember playing in a sandbox with Sango, buying her first bra with Rin, attending her mother's funeral with both of them at her side.

"Yes," she heard herself breathe, though the answer might've been altogether untrue.

It seemed almost anticlimatic as Max threw the door wide and the three demons walked slowly inside, blinking against the dim lighting which seemed to inhabit every small room in this place. They could barely make out Rin and Sango chained up against the wall, speaking in hushed tones. The girls looked up upon their friends' entrance and Sango's voice sounded almost smiling.

"What took you so long?"

Ranbou muttered a curse and jogged forward, finally able to make out their blood streaked faces in the light. Max hurried to meet them as Ayame walked almost robotically behind them. She was startled at first by the sight of her friends, but soon grew used to the blood, the bruising, the ripped clothing. It wasn't as bad as she'd imagined, but she could still hear her heart beating in her ears. It made her feel unreal.

By the time Ayame had a grip on her heartbeat, Max and Ranbou had freed Rin and Sango from the rusty chains and easily hefted the girls into their arms. "Aya?"

The voice was Rin's and Ayame answered almost strongly. "Yes? Are you okay?"

Rin managed to reach out one bloody hand to her friend, who took it without thinking; the sticky liquid between their palms almost provided closure, if Ayame could put a word to it. "Don't look so freaked out," Rin chuckled, coughing slightly as that metallic blood in her throat choked her once more.

"Sorry," was all Ayame could say, thought it came out as a whisper.

"C'mon," Ranbou said, clearing his throat officiously. "We gotta go."

"Right," Ayame echoed, letting go of Rin's hand with a fake smile on her face, just to ease her friend's mind. All she could think as she stood there was this: where was Kouga and did he look anything like this?

Max narrowed his eyes as he watched Ayame standing there, trying to shake herself free of such thoughts. As the group hurried out the door, both boys careful not to jostle their loads too much, the combustion demon briefly wondered why the war had to come down to this. He wasn't exactly a member of the peace corps, but he wasn't a bloody lunatic either. He just wanted a life of peace for everyone. God only knew that half the people he knew deserved one.

Sighing lightly to himself, Max shook his head. Until Naraku and his operations were finished, there was no hope of peace. For anyone.

**Okay. That took me for-fucking-ever. Sorry, but I had a huge research paper and exams to contend with while writing this. And coming back from surgery. And boys. Whats up with boys anyway? Who do they think they are, looking like sexy anime characters and ruining my life? Anyway, here it is, no doubt the biggest chapter yet. Or at least it certainly felt like it.**

**I'm really sorry it took so long, thanks for sticking around! Below is the link to Jackie's newest drawing of LDTL, one of Kagome up on the cross. It's gorgeous! I'm so jealous of your talent, Jackie! GRRR! But love.**

h t t p / w w w . d e v i a n t a r t . c o m / d e v i a t i o n / 4 8 2 1 6 9 9 2 /

**Alright. The next chapter should come quicker, since exams and the paper will be over. Then I won't have anything until APs...JESUS...**

**Love all of you! Sorry again for the wait! Go reviewers!**

**KOLU**


	32. 3rd Stage: The Battle

**Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback. I won't keep you waiting; go!**

There comes a time when a person's life when they realize what truly matters. In normal cases, this moment comes just before death or in throws of severe depression just preceeding said death.

This is why Kagome, when she began to think about the kids she might have had with Inuyasha, decided to do something to help not only herself, but him as well. As she readjusted her precarious tip toe balancing act on the small peg below her, wishing that her arms could simply drop from the cross if only for a moment, the girl grimaced. Dried blood was crusted and black on her limbs, looking positively ghostly against her white skin; she could just barely feel the vibration from what she estimated was an explosion and she winced. Explosions were never good, in her experience.

_Where are they? Are they okay? Are they...alive? NO! No, no, no, don't think things like that, they're fine. They're fit as fiddles...fit as fiddles? Where the hell did _that _come from? I'm going crazy. Officially, being strung up on a cross has made me crazy. Shit. I'm useless again. I can't do anything again. I'm a burden...again. God, it makes me so fucking mad, I just want to...to..._

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGHHH!"

The scream tore through Kagome's throat like a fire through forest, echoing around the cavernous room and causing the rafters to give a slight tremble. The sound weaved its way through the halls, catching the ears of countless demons and alarming others as they felt the ground give a small shudder beneath their feet. It was in that moment that all those who might've been lost in the warehouse realized exactly where Kagome was located.

Inuyasha and Shitora clapped their hands over their ears as a wrenching cry assaulted their senses; though they couldn't quite see the source of said noise, it was ruining the peace in their heads.

Shitora squinted slightly as she growled, "What the hell was that?"

But she never received an answer, for her brother was already sprinting down the hallway, blood flying from open wounds as he carried on like a hurricane. Axle and Bankotsu exchanged glances with Shitora before nodding curtly and following suite, hoping to keep up with the hanyou before he did something potentially life threatening. Bankotsu smirked at this irony; as if their lives weren't threatened enough these days.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, would've embraced death if it meant Kagome's life. He couldn't breathe, couldn't feel, couldn't manage to sense any sort of sensation as he ran, wondering if his feet were pounding the pavement at all. He knew exactly who that mysterious scream belonged to and he couldn't say if it was a good or bad thing. At least she was still concious and alive. On the other hand, it was never a good thing when Kagome screamed. The only times Inuyasha could remember hearing Kagome scream were being attacked by Dragons at the race, yelling tearfully at him at Race wars, and banging her thumb with a hammer. Fear, distress and pain. These things and these things only caused Kagome to cry and Inuyasha didn't particularly wish for any of them.

"That was her."

Ranbou adjusted Rin on his back, hazarding a glance at Ayame, who looked positively grim. "Yeah, it was," he grunted in reply.

"Well let's get a fucking move on then," Max interjected with his always flawless reasoning, rolling his dark eyes plantively and shaking his great gnarled head. This was no time for pausing and faltering. He knew just as well as the next lad what sort of horrors awaited them in the center chamber, but he liked to think that this "togetherness" idea which Skull and Bones constantly preached about was worth something. Maybe, together, they could make four times the ruckus of one. And an increase in ruckus was always aright with Max.

"How ya doin' up there, saucy girl?" Max asked, obviously adressing Sango, who was breathing heavily on his back. Even as the blood continued to pour from her open wounds, staining the back of Max's already grungy shirt, Sango couldn't help but smile; saucy girl. Max had once told her at their first Race Wars, at the ripe age of 13, that she had far too much "sauce" for a woman. This had, invariably, led to an argument which many still remembered, during which Sango had called Max "freaky face." This was, of course, before the tail pipe accident. His nickname had died, but hers had not. She couldn't help but admit silently to herself that it was nice to hear something so familiar in the middle of this ridiculous chaos.

"I'm...okay..." she wheezed, trying to calm her breathing; it was becoming more and more eratic the more her adrenaline pumped through her already weary veins. "Keep...going..."

Sesshomaru, Akago and Kotone had, consequently, been heading towards what they believed to be the center of the warehouse when they too heard the gut wrenching scream. Sesshomaru and Akago narrowed their eyes, knowing all to well that this voice belonged to Kagome, while Kotone just raised her eyebrows. Having never met the girl, she had no idea what she sounded like and could only assume this was the one they were rescuing.

"She's close. Very close," Akago murmured.

Sesshomaru nodded, jerking his head in the direction of the sound; Kotone and Akago followed quickly at his heels, hoping they arrived before anything alarming could occur.

Bones, Hakkaku, Ginta and Kinanme glanced up simultaneously as they heard the shout richochet through the hallway. Kina exchanged looks with Hakkaku, who was at her immediate right.

"Is that her?"

Hakkaku didn't answer and only nodded grimly, closing his eyes for a moment as though to will the moment away. Ginta sighed and murmured, "Well, even though she's in trouble, we know where she is now."

"Agreed," Bones said, narrowing his green eyes calculatively. "I think I understand now. Well, we better jump ship to the top levels, wot?"

"Right," the others agreed, following the lanky redhead as they searched desperately for a stairwell, hurrying down the hallway towards the sound of Kagome's anguished scream.

Meanwhile, Kouga, Skull and Hiten were jogging at a leisurely pace through their hallway when Kagome's scream reached their ears. Kouga narrowed his eyes and said after a moment, "That didn't sound like a happy scream."

"I doubt she's fuckin' happy, mate," Skull mumbled, giving Kouga a gruff pat on the shoulder as his blue eyes began to lose some of their sparkle.

Hiten narrowed his crimson ones and picked up his pace, urging his friends on. "Well, then we better hurry up."

It's always mildly disconcerting when you meet someone unexpectedly in a public place. It's also mildly disconcerting when a loud noise interrupts a peaceful quiet without warning. Kagome was torn between happiness and surprise as her friends began literally pouring out of every crevice and orifice in the room in which she was held captive. Her eyes couldn't decide where to focus as she half smiled and half cried out with emotional exhaustion, closing her brown eyes momentarily to savor the sweet flavor of potential freedom.

It was then that she felt a certain warmth surround her and her eyes snapped open; Inuyasha was there. Her eyes nearly rolled out of her head as she swept the room, searching desperately for him and the safety he graced her with. It wasn't long before Kagome was able to hear Inuyasha's voice above the caucophony of sounds, most of which were shouts of her name.

Inuyasha burst into the room and felt the breath leaking from his mouth as he set eyes on his beloved Kagome, who was literally strung up on a cross, blood dried and encrusted on her pale white body. She was in her underwear. That scared Inuyasha to death for more than one reason.

Without caution or thought, Inuyasha charged forward and practically threw himself at the cross, climbing with a strength and agility only indigenous to demons in desperate situations. He felt a certain sickness encase him as he found himself practically on top of Kagome whilst his razor sharp claws did their work on her wrist bindings. She gasped slightly as the rusty metal left her skin, unaccustomed to the air and sudden pain. Inuyasha swallowed and closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds, hating to watch her hurting so badly, but he knew the hurt would be even worse if he waited. Finally, he used his right arm to gently pull her to him, using his strength to hold her steady as he climbed down with his feet and left arm. Kagome was clinging tightly to him, head buried in his shoulder, and he forced himself to resist the urge to crush her to him until they were finally on solid ground.

The two lovers collided like ocean and shore, pressing themselves tightly together as though wishing to feel each other at every point. Kagome wanted to cry, though she knew it would serve no purpose. Inuyasha wanted to cry, though he knew it would make matters worse. The two were just content to cling to one another like life threads. No words were said, not even the whispering of names, because neither could find words which would hold any meaning in such a situation. All that mattered was that neither of them were elon anymore.

Rin whimpered into Ranbou's shoulder as she caught sight of Sesshomaru entering through the west gate. Despite the general noise of the group reunions, Sesshomaru heard a small and pitiful sound with his powerful demon hearing and he froze instantaneously, whirling to face the South West with such speed that a normal neck might've broken. It took Sesshomaru a single moment to assess what his eyes were desperately telling his brain before he was sprinting towards Rin, who felt more tears coming to her eyes as she saw the fear in her boyfriend's normally stoic face.

Ranbou lifted Rin gently into Sesshomaru's arms as he arrived, glancing down at his brawny arms, which were now stained with and smelt of the girl's blood. He looked away from the sight and turned his vision instead to the reunited lovers before him.

Sesshomaru held Rin protectively, cradling her like a child as he analyzed her injuries. "My god," he whispered, unable to even imagine the brutality Rin had suffered. Rope burns, scratches, bruises, even a cigarette burn on her bare side. Torture. These were torture wounds.

"We didn't tell them anything," Rin said as tears flowed freely down her pretty face, turning a pale pink as they collided with the blood on her cheeks.

Sesshomaru's amber eyes met Rin's brown ones for a mere second before the dog demon had to look away, afraid that he himself might cry for the second time in his life. He leaned down his head, placing a single kiss on Rin's forehead before he muttered, "Never again. They'll never hurt you again, I swear it."

While Sesshomaru was able to internalize this incident to a certain degree, Miroku was overcome with all sorts of emotions, none of them escapable. His mind was a blur as he rushed to Sango's side, watching as Max set her down gently on the cool concrete floor. She barely lay there for a moment before Miroku was kneeling beside her, allowing his eyes to roll wildly over her injuries. His violet gaze was so intense Sango feared it might actually crack his skull in two.

"Miroku, I'm al-"

"What the hell did they do to you?!"

Sango closed her eyes, unused to the desperation and anger which now inhabited Miroku's voice. "They wanted answers, but we didn't give them." She neglected to mention that she and Rin didn't have the answers in the first place. She also neglected to mention that they were tortured over the "thursday night activities"; if Miroku felt that he were even close to the incident, the guilt would eat him up from the inside out.

"Sango...I...I'm so...I can't believe they did this..." he stuttered, shaking his head slowly in disbelief.

Sango had barely enough strength to lay her hand on his and she smiled as she did so. "Miroku, I love you."

It was out of context and random, but Miroku felt his eyes well up with tears anyway. He leaned his forehead down until it was touching Sango's and he whispered, "I love you too."

Across the room, Kouga and Ayame embraced before sharing a brief kiss. Both were breathless and relatively unhurt, save the odd scratch or two, and had made out rather well considering the circumstances. "You alright?" Kouga asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah, you?" Ayame asked in return, green eyes searching his ice blue eyes for truth.

"Yeah."

Skull and Kina were smiling wearily as they held one another, watching the others reuniting as Bones and Kotone stood quietly beside them, fingers entwined.

Ranbou pushed himself up from the ground and looked up just in time to hear running footsteps before Shitora launched herself at him. He grunted slightly but found her weight easy to bear, despite his aching muscles. The hanyou's amber eyes eagerly searched his body as she furrowed her snow white brow. "You're not hurt are you? You better say no."

"I'm not hurt, Sukini," Ranbou replied, rolling his eyes despite the grin on his face. After a brief sniff of the area, however, the wolf demon's fanged grin faded, replaced with a distinctive frown. "But you are. And not just from this mornin'."

"Just scratches," Shitora assured him as she leaned her head on his good shoulder; his arms were linked under her bottom like a baby and she sighed with contentment.

These moments were all short lived, for tremors began to shake the floor, walls, and all those within them. Inuyasha tensed, pulling Kagome tighter to him in a sort of instictual motion as he turned to look warily at the many entrances to the room. Their great plan had already been spoiled by the maze, not to mention the fact that the jumping team couldn't find a single staircase leading to the balcony. It looked as though they would be fighting this out the old fashioned way; muscle.

As the tremors increased, it became apparent that they were not earthquakes but footsteps. In a strange clash of sounds, claws were released and guns cocked, all of them pointed and aimed towards the many doorways. As quickly as the army of footsteps had began, the noise stopped and gave way to silence.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in violent hatred as one pair of foosteps continued, followed quickly by two more, until the three pairs of feet in question were finally identified. The shadows parted like curtains as Naraku, Kagura and Ryuukoytsusei entered the room from the West, walking calmly through the entranceway and fearlessly approaching their enemies.

The Southeners watched their adversaries advance in silence, never even daring to move as Naraku came to a stop, smiling in that chilling way of his. He through his arms akimbo. "You made it to the center. Congratulations."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes so angrily that Kagome looked away from his face, instead burying her head in his chest. Naraku continued after a moment. "I'm impressed, Sesshomaru, I won't lie. You managed to organize a group of more than ten and make it here in one piece...or almost," he added, glancing over at Rin and Sango with a certain sickness in his crimson eyes.

"You bastard!" Inuyasha screamed, wanting desperately to lash out at the man but instead pulling Kagome closer to him.

"I could kill you right where you stand," Sesshomaru growled in an uncharacteristically heated voice, raising the automatic weapon he'd withdrawn from his belt. His amber eyes were glowing a simmering orange as he stood, stock still, with the upraised barrel pointed at Naraku's smiling head.

"But you won't, will you Taisho?" Naraku goaded, looking smug and victorious. "You couldn't do something so dishonorable."

Sesshomaru said nothing but continued to stand with his weapon at the ready, struggling with his hand which so desperately wanted to pull the trigger. Bankotsu watched his fellow leader falter and snarled, raising his own pistol and barking, "Honor ceased to matter when you kidnapped Kagome, you sick fucking bastard! I'll kill you without regrets!"

But before Bankotsu could carry out his threat, the footsteps began to thunder through the room once more. This time, however, the source of the noise came marching into the room from all sides. Spiders and Dragons alike came pouring through the doorways like floodwater, each of them carrying large silver guns with a bluish tint in the nozel. Kagome tensed as she recognized the guns which had previously occuppied the west wall and she cringed; this didn't feel right.

"Inuyasha...those guns," she whispered, voice hoarse and tearful.

The hanyou glanced down at her, furrowing his brow as he began examining the guns which surrounded him on all sides. He couldn't recall seeing anything like them, except perhaps in the odd science fiction film. Feeling ignorant at this stage in the game unnerved him and he scowled. This was no time for surprises.

Sesshomaru passed over the guns and focused mainly on the size of Naraku's impressive army, which was fully five times the size he'd imagined it to be. The dog demon looked calmly about, never lowering his gun, as he murmured, "Where did you get these men, Naraku."

Naraku chuckled darkly as he shrugged his strong shoulders, upsetting the black curls near his face. "Here and there, Sesshomaru. You know how it is, you get men any way you can. But I'm bored with talk."

The Northern leader nodded to Kagura, who nodded grimly in reply, and then to Ryuu, who barely even spared the smaller man a glance. Naraku raised his right hand, which caused a rippling effect throughout the crowd of gun weilders. The blue and silver guns were raised and readied, beginning to glow and hum as their masters pushed the silver buttons on the right side of the "barrel," or what one might consider as such.

Threatened, the Southeners readjusted their weapons and exchanged glances; there were so many enemies it was hard to tell where to shoot.

"I'd love to stay and chat, Sesshomaru, but I've got better things to do," Naraku continued, hand still pointed at the sky. The demon furrowed his brow, saying curiously, "You know, on second thought, let's cut this number down to size." He nodded to his right.

At this motion, several of the gunners in the first wave of Spiders stepped forward and produced small weapons which might be comparable to tazers. Tobi and Benkan barely had time to blink before they were enraptured with lines of lightning, along with Kotone and Kinanme. The four demons barely had time to scream before the energy left their bodies and they crumpled to the ground, laying in heaps of bloody, burned flesh.

Ayame gasped at this heinous act before whirling on the Spiders nearest her, raising her fist to deal them a good serving of revenge. Naraku laughed, however, saying, "Not so fast, wolf," before producing a simple pistol from his belt. He aimed, cocked and shot with the reflexes of a cat, sending off a bullet so quickly that no one had time to think or move in Ayame's defense.

The shot caught her in the stomach and she screamed, crumpling to the floor and shaking with pain as she clamped a hand to her profusely bleeding side. Her green eyes glittered with pain as her red curls began to soak in her own blood. Kouga cursed and began to hurry to her side, but Naraku interrupted his attempt.

"It's pointless, Ookami. You've already lost."

Naraku brought his upraised hand down in a simple motion, though the reaction to his order was far more complex than anyone could've imagined. Time seemed to stop and the moment grew quite long as Kouga stopped in midstride, whipping to face Naraku as Sesshomaru tightened his jaw. The air began to buzz and the hair on every neck stood on end, tingling with a frightening sense of immenent danger.

The strange silver guns began emmiting a curious heat before their weilders depressed the silver buttons once more. This produced a concentrated blue beam of sleek light which emmited from the tip of the nozel; though there were nearly one hundred beams, each of them found their way to the nearest standing Southener.

There were assorted screams and cries of surprise as the beams hit their targets; though Bankotsu managed to let off a shot with his pistol, the bullet seemed to dissolve in in the blue brightness before them. Many shielded their eyes from the heat and light, though it was to no avail. The damage was already done.

When the beams ceased and the hum which had permeated the air gave way to noiselessness, Kagome let out the breath she'd been holding and focused on her body. She felt no different. The girl opened her tired eyes, seeing only Inuyasha's chest, which appeared normal as well. For a moment, she thought the guns had failed to do their job, but she soon felt a rumbling rippling through her body; it was coming from Inuyasha. She furrowed her brow and hesitated a look up at her lover.

Inuyasha was shaking with almost seizure like activity, though this was no seizure. It wasn't long before his fangs began to elongate and his claws soon followed, only to be accompanied by the redenning of his normally playful amber eyes. Kagome froze when she realized what was taking place; she couldn't find the life in her limbs to move. He was transforming. Inuyasha was transforming into a demon.

Knowing that it was her life at stake, Kagome pushed herself away from Inuyasha's now slack grip and turned to enlist help from one of her friends. This desire died when she saw what had become of those she loved and respected as family; every demon and half demon within the vicinity was losing control.

Sesshomaru's fangs were nearly to his chin and a furry white mass Kagome could only assume to be a tail was sprouting from his backside. Nearby, Kouga and Ranbou were undergoing similar transformations which shook their very beings; each of them now sported frightening yellow eyes and curious red stripes on their faces. They were howling in unison, a sound which pierced Kagome's very being and rendered her helpless. Shitora was snarling as her eyes joined Inuyasha's at a crimson hue, her claws and fangs soon following in the trend.

Bankotsu's skin was turning a startling shade of dark blue as his eyes became a piercing crimson; tattoos unlike anything Kagome had ever witnessed began sprouting from his very skin, stetching from head to toe. Beside him, Hiten's normally smiling face had become stone cold as lightning swirled about him, joining a frightening rumbling which sounded very much like thunder. Ginta and Hakkaku looked a bit like Kouga and Ranbou with their wolfen ears, though Ginta seemed to have grown fur around his neck.

Akago grew even whiter in the skin and hair until he was nearly translucent, save odd blue designs on his temples and forehead. His eyes were no longer a bloody crimson but seemed to have no pupil; they were colorless voids. Mad Max's normally mohawked red hair began to grown until it was long and wild, framing his now silver eyes. He was growling and shaking, as though trying to defy his transformation, but it was no use. Beside him, Axle's skin had grown to be the color of black granite and he was issuing sounds which reminds Kagome vaguely of a tiger.

Not knowing where to turn, Kagome looked wildly about, catching sight of Naraku as he exited the room with Ryuukoytsusei and Kagura in tow. As they did this, their gunmen following swiftly behind them, the doors were thrown closed and locked. Kagome gasped as the sounds of fighting erupted to her left. Axle and Bankotsu seemed to have grown angry with one another and had begun to fight, both refusing to take a single step backwards. Kagome soon understood that they were fighting for territory and she began to see the genius of Naraku's plan: the South was going to destroy itself from the inside out. Surely, when the demons finished with one another, they would continue on to the humans. It was an almost fruitless battle.

While the demons and half demons, now fully transformed, focused on Axle and Bankotsu's battle, Kagome began hurrying towards where Rin, Sango and Miroku were huddled, frighteningly near to Sesshomaru. Rin whimpered as her cousin knelt beside her, looking strongly into her pained brown eyes. "We've got to get to shelter," Kagome insisted, trying to overcome Rin's fear with reason.

Nodding with some trepidation, Rin allowed herself to be hefted on to Kagome's bloody back. Miroku did the same with Sango and the four began creeping towards a pile of sheet metal in the corner, trying to stay beneath the demons' radar. Inspired by Axle and Bankotsu, many of the other demons had begun to fight for ownership of the warehouse.

"What are we going to do?" Kagome asked, addressing her three friends when they were safely behind the scrap metal pile. "Any ideas?"

"There's nothing we can do," Miroku replied, shaking his head sadly. He glanced down at Sango and placed on hand protectively on her shoulder.

"Last time Inuyasha transformed, I hugged him and he turned back. Should we just run around and hug them all?" Kagome tried, looking hopeful.

Miroku exchanged glances with Sango, who seemed to look away in sheer sadness, and the boy shook his head once more. His violet eyes were tired and worn as he replied, "Kagome, it just won't work this time. There are stages of the transformation and whatever that gun just did took them to the final level immediately. I've never seen anything like it...and hope I never do again."

Kagome drew in a weary breath, sitting with her back against the metal as she tried to cool her fiercely hot skin; the cuts at the top of her limbs were beginning to ache. She'd never imagined that coming to Tokyo would turn out like this. The day her mother told her she would be going away, she imagined a bustling city with state of the art cell phones and the occasional grope on the subway train. Perhaps she thought Rin's friends might do a bit of drinking and smoking, maybe get together at night and swim in Rin's mansion pool. She would eat rich Tokyo foods and dress in preppy, expensive clothing, going to school with the country's wealthiest heirs and heiresses. In Kagome's mind, Tokyo would make her a teenage princess.

What she'd received in Tokyo was far different than her imagination presumed. Instead of a state of the art cell phone, she had a beat up Nokia with service about as reliable as a politican three months from election. She'd never been groped on the subway, due to the fact that none of the gang members took the subway and instead used their own cars and bikes. Rin's friends did a little more than a bit of drinking, though she'd never seen them drunk; beers seemed about as potent as water in the warehouse. Every single person in the gangs had smoke a cigarette at least once and about fifty percent of them were chain smokers at that very moment in time. There was very little swimming in Rin's mansion pool, as there was always work to be done at the Fang headquarters and paperwork simply wouldn't do itself. Kagome hadn't really been eating during the summer, as the heat stole her hunger and she often times forgot with no food within reach. Her clothes were perhaps expensive, though she would never really know; most of them had belonged to Rin or Sango at one point and were now hers on extended lend. From what she'd heard of her new highschool, almost everyone was part of the local gang and racing circuit; obviously there were fewer heirs and heiresses than she'd expected. Instead of a teenage princess, she felt like a teenage rebel.

And she loved it.

But now everything she'd come to love was dissolving right before her eyes, dying with the sanity of her demon friends as they sunk further into carnal instinct and gave way to primal urges. Despite the numerous growls, roars and noises of battle in the room behind her, Kagome could still make out a single howl above the rest. Inuyasha sounded so far from his normal state of mind that tears pricked at her eyes. How could something so cruel live inside a man she'd come to know as loving and compassionate? Perhaps he put on ridiculous airs of arrogance and pride, but Inuyasha was a truly generous person. It seemed that the Taishos were, on average, quite beautiful people inside and out. So where did their demon sides live when they weren't taking over their bodies? In their hearts? Because nothing like that monster could live in her Inuyasha's heart. Kagome was sure of that.

"Kagome?"

Miroku's voice brought Kagome back to the world of the living and she looked up, wide eyed, at the boy. Tears were now falling freely from her eyes and Miroku frowned, placing a warm hand on Kagome's shoulder. "I know it seems hopeless, b-"

"Isn't there anything we can do?!" Kagome asked brokenly, voice cracking as she rubbed at her eyes with one bloody hand. "Why can't we do anything?!"

It hurt Miroku's heart to see Kagome so affected, but he knew more about demon transformations than was totally necessary. He'd grown up with the Taishos and Ookamis, had learned the lessons and heard the stories which the old demons told to every generation. In exchange for their brilliant powers, the gods bestowed the demons with a burden to carry, that of their hidden half. The elders ordered that the young demons never revert to their demonic forms in order to kill, but only to protect. Miroku couldn't be sure what kind of guns Naraku had gotten his filthy hands on, but they broke every demon law Miroku could call to mind. Those guns were just unholy.

"No," he said finally, in answer to Kagome's desperate questions. His violet eyes, half hooded and tired, were settled on Sango's wistful face; she was obviously going into shock due to blood loss, but it was all pointless now. They were going to meet their ends one way or another. "I wish I could tell you that talking to them would do something, that you could hug Inuyasha like before and it would make a difference. But this isn't the movies and they can't hear us. All they can do is see our meat and smell their territory. We're prizes to them, all of this is a prize, and they're fighting for it right now. They'll fight each other until only one is standing and then the winner of that will kill us. It's the way demons decide who's in charge in their real forms."

Kagome swallowed slightly, finding her throat growing increasingly dry as it constricted. "Who's the strongest?"

Miroku opened his mouth to speak, but closed it abruptly when he found the thought in his mind to frightening to voice. Sango closed her eyes as she seemed to channel Miroku's thoughts; the idea of the carnage which might beset them was numbing, seeing as though _he _was practically unstoppable when the demon inside him awoke. Kagome looked from Miroku to Sango, growing frantic and nervous as they remained silent.

"Who is it?" she asked again, searching their eyes for answers.

"There are three possibilities," Miroku said finally, looking away from Kagome's gaze as he wished this statement could somehow be true. He knew there was less of a choice than he gave the situation credit for. But yet he explained it, perhaps for his own benefit. "Akago is a demon from an ancient order; he might use some spells on us, but he'd never touch us. He'd kill us quickly. Ranbou...he would beat us until we couldn't fucking feel. I'm pretty sure we'd die a slow painful death if Ranbou came out on top. But nothing really compares to..."

When Miroku trailed off, Kagome furrowed her brow and urged him on. "To...?"

"Sesshomaru," came a tiny whisper from Kagome's left.

Kagome turned to face her cousin, who was laying, prostrate, on the ground some feet from Sango. The blood on her face and hands made a ghostly contrast against her pale white skin and Kagome shuddered; Rin looked almost otherworldly. Kagome crawled towards his cousin, entwining their hands as she said calmly, "Sesshomaru? Will he...win?"

"He can't lose," Rin replied, almost bitterly. "When he wins, we'll die."

The words were so blunt and caustic, Kagome winced and nearly dropped her cousin's hand. For Sesshomaru's lover to admit such a thing...Kagome couldn't imagine how difficult it must be. To admit that Inuyasha would soon kill her might be traumatizing. Rin had just undergone torture of the highest degree and was now faced with impending murder by the man she loved more than life itself, five minutes after their reunion. Kagome closed her eyes plantively; it seemed as though the world would never cut them slack. She'd wanted to be a princess and here she sat, surrounded by people who deserved royal treatment in every since of the word. So why couldn't they have it? Why must they always be outcasts?

"Rin, Sesshomaru could never kill you, that's ridiculous!" Kagome said with great conviction. "He couldn't even give you a papercut."

Yet Rin shook her head as tears leaked down the side of her face, dripping onto the concrete and mixing with her blood. "You're right. But that's not Sesshomaru."

And all Kagome could do was sit back on her haunches, staring disbelievingly down at the ground. It was true, she decided, that none of their friends were truly themselves at that moment. The real question was this: how far would Kagome and the others go to protect themselves?

Yet Kagome didn't have much time to deliberate this point because the scrap metal wall which protected them from the demons beyond suddenly gave way with a terrifying screech. Kagome screamed in surprise and, along with Miroku, tried her best to protect her injured friends as metal fell around them in a frightening rain. She could feel corners and jagged edges tearing at her already shorn skin, pulling at her hair, banging at her bruised limbs. The pain was great, but her fear was greater; Rin was whimpering beneath her, too afraid to scream. Beside them, Miroku was sheltering Sango with his body and grunting only slightly as the metals planks impaled him. When the crashing finally stopped, Kagome squinted open one of her eyes, which felt as though it might grow to be black when given the time. The sounds of battling demons still raged, but this time closer than before.

Miroku, aware of Sango's breathing beneath him, glanced up through a haze of unsettled dust and felt his blood run cold; the falling metal stack had obviously been the doing of Shitora and Inuyasha. Both demons were standing there, now fully transformed, with claws upraised and teeth barred. They were covered in wounds but seemed not to notice them, as their superior bodied handeled this exertion with ease. The brother and sister stood there growling, silver hair framing wrathful crimson eyes.

Kagome felt her breath catch in her throat as Inuyasha took a single step forward, muscles tensed and lithe. As Inuyasha stared down at her, cold and unfeeling, she began to understand the unadulterated fear which accompanied looking death in the eyes. Her own boyfriend, the one she loved more than anyone in this world, was preparing to strike out at her. He seemed so dangerous, as though a single second could mean her death; she looked frantically left and right as she wondered whether or not moving was a good idea. It might either save her life or trigger his anger.

Inuyasha took another step forward and, in a startling turn of events, disappeared altogther. Kagome closed her eyes and raised one arm, bracing for the attack, but felt nothing but the coldness of the concrete. After a moment, she glanced up and realized that Shitora was the only one before her. Only at someone's startled gurgle did Kagome think to turn.

Inuyasha was holding Miroku suspended a foot above the ground, gripping him by only the neck in one of his strong clawed hands. Miroku grunted as he pulled frantically at Inuyasha's hand with his own, beginning to feel the pressure on his windpipe. Inuyasha looked on at his prey, cold, unfeeling and eyes a bleeding red.

"Inu...yasha...s-stop..." Miroku gasped, squeezing his eyes shut as Inuyasha's decided to increase the strength of his grip. Despite his own advice to Kagome a few minutes prior, Miroku couldn't help but speak to his best friend as though he would understand a dying man's plea.

"C'mon man," he wheezed, wincing as the pain heightened. "It's me, Miroku. You know, your best friend since you were 3? I'm that kid...that kid who helped you put together your first go-kart. You know, that lame one who you always had to fight bullies for in middle school? I was that guy who cried at your mom's funeral cause she was the only mom I ever had...god, ow, Yash, stop. If you kill me, who's gonna be your kids' godfather?" Inuyasha's hand seemed to cease its relentless tightening on Miroku's throat and instead stayed at its current weight. "Yeah, you remember that? You and I said in the third grade that we'd be the godfathers for our kids so that they'd have good godfathers like we did. C'mon Yash...don't let Naraku beat you like this...shit..."

But before Miroku could continue his plea, he lost conciousness and fell limp in Inuyasha's hold. The demon seemed to deliberate this point for a moment before dropping Miroku to the ground in an unceremonious fashion, seemingly unwilling to look at the boy's body. He instead turned his sights on Shitora, who had just been standing, observing the goings on and calling encouragement in demon tongue. He gave a simple nod to his sister, who licked her fangs animalistically before charging at Kagome, pinning her to the ground with a surprising amount of force.

Kagome stared, wide eyed, up at the demon girl who was grinning madly in her bloodlust. She was digging her claws into Kagome's shoulders, as though urging her to remain still, as she sniffed and assessed her prey. Kagome closed one eye as she tried to lean away from Shitora's probing mouth, which was gnashing awfully close to her face. As Shitora opened her mouth wide, presumably to take a bite, Kagome swallowed and closed her eyes tensely._ This is it. I'm going to die; one of my best friends is going to eat me alive._

Kagome focused on life.

She focused on the air, the breeze.

She focused on the life she might've lived but now would never experience.

She focused on nothing.

"I leave for a single moment and the world comes crashing down; should I be flattered or insulted?"

Kagome's eyes snapped open as she felt the pressure of Shitora's weight release her and she gasped, hands flying to her throat as she checked for bite marks and wondered if she was in heaven. Seeing the grungy warehouse ceiling above her and hearing the frantic sounds of demon battling, she realized that she was very much alive and on the imperfect earth. After sitting up, bracing herself on the floor, Kagome blinked her blurry eyes and could barely believe the sight before her.

Shitora was laying on the floor some feet from Miroku's body, growling as she stood to her feet; she'd obviously been thrown quite a ways. A hand suddenly appeared before her face, obviously offering her assistance, and Kagome followed the hand to its wrist, up the arm to a familiar face.

Gan rolled her violet eyes plantively, muttering irritatedly, "Come now, Kagome, we're in the middle of something here. No time to hesitate."

The girl was wearing a simple spandex black top with black cargo pants and boots, outfitted with a number of guns and weapons on her belt. Her blonde hair was held in a high ponytail, a sloppy one for sure, and she looked rather uncomfortable as she stood there in this clothing. Kagome finally had the sense to take Gan's hand, standing shakily to her feet as she glanced over at where Inuyasha was barking at Shitora in a fierce dialect of demon tongue.

"G-Gan? What are you doing here?" Kagome managed to get out.

In reply, Gan withdrew a pistol from her belt and cocked it, aligning the sight with Inuyasha's skull. "I remembered that I have a duty to do. I may be a woman, but I'm still the Sharks second in command. And this is my fight too."

Kagome nodded blearily until she realized what Gan had her sight set on. "No! Don't!" she cried, reaching for the gun only to have Gan catch her hand in mid reach.

"Kagome, I'm not going to shoot him and he's not going to attack. By demon law, its another family's turn to claim you. The Taisho family has failed. Now someone else is going to try."

As Gan presumed, Inuyasha and Shitora turned to continue their fight with Hakkaku and Ginta as Kouga and Ranbou turned their sights on the humans, stalking towards them with fire in their stares. Kagome shivered at the looks on their faces, which were even more frightening than that of the dog demons, but Gan didn't even flinch. Instead, she called out, "Fengrir sin lashota! Graotem grenisix rawool lahmotem! Taisho plantem leonem grenix!"

Kagome furrowed her brow, not understanding these strange words, but Kouga and Ranbou seemed to find something of merit in them. The demons exchanged glances before whirling on Inuyasha and Shitora, roaring in angry, word like screams. Inuyasha and Shitora fired back with equal vigor but, before Kagome could watch for the outcome, Gan pulled her away by the arm. The girls knelt down beside Miroku, Sango and Rin, speaking in hushed tones as they watched the demons restlessly, never knowing when they could turn their attentions to the humans once more.

"What caused them to transform?" Gan asked absently, as she ran her fingers over Miroku's neck, which was growing black and blue where Inuyasha's fingers had been.

"Some kind of gun, Naraku didn't say much," Kagome replied, holding Rin's hand in hers as Rin breathed slowly, eyes shifting frantically as she wondered where the next attack would come from.

Gan furrowed her brow as she reached around to the harness on her back, unbuckling one of the strange blue and silver guns Kagome had witnessed earlier. Gan gestured to the gun, asking, "Like this one?"

Kagome stared at the weapon, asking finally, "Gan...where the hell did you get that?"

"Killed a few on my way in," was all the girl said in reply, looking over the gun in her hands. "It looked suspicious that they were all carrying one, so I...borrowed it."

"Do you know anything about it?" Kagome urged, allowing her eyes to fall the gun as Rin's feeble grip tightened ever so slightly.

Gan said nothing as she examined the barrel and handel, moving her eyes down to the nozel. She was silent for so long that Kagome grew nervous, but Gan soon had the answers she craved. "It's a particle rearrangement gun. This nozel here emits a beam which rearranges the molecules in a demons body. When a demon's demonic side takes over, their molecules begin to rearrange and fortify themselves. That's why demons become physically superior to humans when transformed. This gun just causes the transformation so violently that they go straight through the stages to the final stage."

Kagome felt her eyes narrow as she imagined Naraku handling this gun; it seemed to her that demons treated transformations with the utmost reverance and respect. For him to use a weapon which toyed with them seemed completely and totally out of line. Of course it wasn't as though she expected Naraku to follow the rules.

Eerie shadows played off the walls as the battle continued. Inuyasha and Kouga had begun to fight after Gan said those strange words and they were now in the full throes, biting and scratching, clawing desperately at each other's flesh. "What did you say?" Kagome asked Gan, never allowing her eyes to stray from Inuyasha's face.

"I told the Ookamis that the Taishos had touched their clan's human slaves," Gan said dismissively as she continued to run her hands over the gun.

"Human slaves? But we're not-" Kagome began, only to be interrupted by Gan's stern voice.

"Of course your not, but it flatters the Ookamis to think you are and angers the Taishos that you're not theirs. Now they're fighting for ownership of you. It'll keep them busy until we work out a plan," Gan explained.

Kagome watched the goings on uneasily until she saw Ranbou and Shitora turn on one another, both having just discarded of their previous enemies. With Hakkaku in a bloody mess behind Shitora and Bankotsu limp on the floor behind Ranbou, the two demons began to advance on one another, roaring fiercely as they prepared their claws. As they charged, Kagome cried out and scrambled to her feet, making as though to go running into the melee.

Gan just barely caught Kagome's arm, roaring, "Have you lost your fucking mind?!"

"They're going to kill each other!" Kagome screeched in reply, turning frantically back to the scene as Shitora impaled her claws in Ranbou's stomach and Ranbou retaliated by ripping his own claws down her face.

"Oh, be reasonable," Gan replied sharply, obviously running on a short fuse. Her violet eyes glittered bitterly as she sneered, "If you think you can stop them, your mad. We're human, they're final stage demons, it won't happen. Now sit down and be rational for once!"

Gan's words were biting and hurtful, practically slapping Kagome into submission as she whimpered, "But they love each other. How can they just-"

"Open your eyes, Kagome. None of them can recognize anything but blood family in this state," Gan replied harshly. She frowned as Kagome's head drooped further, but she knew it had to be done. Kagome needed to understand the goings on to a point where she wouldn't get herself killed. Gan remembered the first time she'd seen Akago go demon; she hadn't wanted to wake up the next day, but Akago gave her a stern talking to and she realized this was a culture flaw she would have to accept. Eventually, she grew hardened and knew that demon sides were something she would grow used to. It had taken her three years, but she was finally there. Poor Kagome had been forced into a part of demon life she'd never understood in the harshest of ways.

"Is there...anything we can do?" Kagome asked hopelessly.

Gan made a sort of confused face as she looked down at the gun. She finally said, "This gun is configured so that, when the nozel is reversed, it should emit a negative beam as compared to its original beam." When met with Kagome's confused expression, Gan said simply, "If I turn it backwards, it should turn them all back." Kagome face grew immediately excited, but Gan held up her hand sternly. "Don't celebrate yet, it's going to take me some time."

"But what if they come after us again?" Kagome said nervously.

"Just pray that they don't," Gan replied, withdrawing a knife from her pocket and using it to loosen nails and screws along the gun's barrel.

Kagome glanced over at the demon battles, cringing as Sesshomaru sent Akago flying back against the wall with such force that the building shook. Sesshomaru then turned calmly and began to make his way towards the remainder of the demons, which numbered at only four. Kagome felt her mouth run dry as Sesshomaru stalked towards them, cool and collected just as he was human. She could see the destruction in his wake and knew that ever single groaning body on the floor behind him was his victim. While the others had been fighting it out for nearly ten minutes now, Sesshomau had dispatched of the others in little or no time at all.

Gan worked tirelessly, nimble fingers reversing and flipping parts, screwing screws and fingering metal. She cursed as the end of her blonde ponytail fell over her shoulder and into her face; this was why she despised feminine life. The girl could sense Kagome's discomfort and she could gather some sense of what might be going wrong in the center of the room. She knew it was only a matter of time before Sesshomaru made his great forthcommence, but she was hoping she could get the gun reversed before such a thing occurred.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru entered the fray of Inuyasha and Kouga's fight as though they were of no consequence to him. Inuyasha grew angry, yelling at his brother to let him continue in rude sounding demon tongue, but Sesshomaru paid him no mind. Instead, he turned his crimson stare to Kouga, who seemed as though he was trying to look unimpressed. With a single flick of his wrist, Sesshomaru ignited his already fiersome claws with what seemed to be acid and, in another moment's time, he'd thrown Kouga against the nearest wall with burn holes eating through his chest. The wolf demon slid down beside Akago, unconcious when he hit the ground.

At that exact moment, Ranbou roared with triumph as he threw Shitora's limp body to the ground, where it lay bruised, broken and bleeding. Upon realizing that he was the only Ookami left, Ranbou narrowed his normally friendly ice blue eyes and whirled on Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, letting them know through a succession of growls that they were treading on his property.

Inuyasha returned his screaming cries, but Sesshomaru was the one who decided to act. He appeared before Ranbou, lashing out with his acidic claws, which the wolf demon quickly parried. They carried on throughout the room, disappearing and reappearing sporadically as they danced on their tip toes, swiping and clawing at one another as they went. Ranbou eventually caught Sesshomaru in the side of the head with one of his brawny arms, knocking Sesshomaru back into the stone wall. Though the wolf demon's strength was superior, Sesshomaru more than made up for this with his abundance of skill. Before Ranbou could even celebrate his victory, Sesshomaru was upon him once more, white hair stained with the blood which leaked from a fresh head wound. With a simple feint to the left, Sesshomaru struck Ranbou in the stomach with his acid claws. The wolf demon stared down at the claws which seemed to grow from his middle, barely emitting a sound before Sesshomaru ripped his hand to the side, sending Ranbou crashing to the ground with a hole wound in the center of his torso, complete with slashes which stretched to his side.

Upon witnessing Sesshomaru's victory, Inuyasha emitted a triumphant bark, which he raised to the echoing walls. Sesshomaru began walking slowly towards his exalting brother, bypassing the lifeless bodies of friends and family as he went; there was no emotion in his crimson gaze. Kagome's eyes widened and her body began to shake as she realized what was taking place.

With Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, there was no climatic battle, no power struggle between siblings. Where Inuyasha and Sesshomaru should've paried and thrusted, dodging blows and feints, there was none. Sesshomaru simply approached his oblivious brother and, in one double claw slash, tored open Inuyasha's chest until blood spurted from the "x" shaped wound. Inuyasha let out a roar of surprise and pain, looking at his brother with some sort of betrayed expression before he fell to the ground, clutching at Sesshomaru's pants leg. Sesshomaru never glanced down, however, as his brother whined on the floor beneath him, trying to hold onto life through contact with his kin.

Blood dripped from Sesshomaru's length claws as Inuyasha's hand finally fell limp and collapsed beside him. Kagome screamed with horror, feeling the tears spring to her eyes as she was finally able to understand the goings on. Gan shook her head slightly, as though trying to clear it of thought as she frantically continued her work. Three more screws, just three more; she found herself wishing she had a screw driver, for the knife worked slowly and often slipped out of the groove. The girl couldn't even bear to hesitate a glance up as she knew Sesshomaru was beginning to advance.

Kagome barely even noticed Sesshomaru coming towards them as her eyes remained trained on Inuyasha's body, which was pale and streaked with blood. Her one. Her only. He was the one who always reassured her when she thought she'd never fit in to gang life. He was the one who told her all the ins and outs of this world she could never seem to understand. He was the one who promised a life of love, a warm one which captured her trust. He was the one she wanted to live with. She didn't want to be with him only in death; it wasn't supposed to be this way.

"NO!" she screamed furiously, struggling to her feet and shaking a threatening fist at Sesshomaru. "This isn't gonna happen this way, got it?! Nobody's dying, nobody's killing and nobody's gonna stop me! We're good people, right?! This doesn't have to happen this way! God damnit!"

Gan felt tears pricking her own eyes as Kagome screamed despreately at the approaching demon, who looked completely unfettered by the young woman's cries. One more screw...just one...

Rin could just barely see Sesshomaru walking towards them in his calm manner as her conciousness began to fade. She hadn't stopped crying tears since this all began and she suspected that she might cry them long after. She could see Kagome standing with her arms outstreched, dressed only in her underwear, covered in blood. She was shouting at Sesshomaru, though Rin could no longer understand her words. It became apparent to Rin that, even though the Southerners were supposedly the "good guys," they were going to lose.

Sesshomaru seemed completely unaffected by Kagome's cries, now matter how desperate and heart wrenching they might've been. Without so much as a second thought, the dog demon marched right up to her and lowered his crisp white eyebrows until the crimson in his eyes was barely visible. He raised his claws in a glittering arc above his head, preparing to finish this battle by claiming the human slaves. Kagome closed her eyes softly, knowing that it was finally over and she was finally going to die. She would be with Inuyasha in heaven, both of them knowing they'd done all they could. Kagome was a hopeful girl, but one can only hope so much and she knew she was beat. This was it.

During the next moment in time, several different things happened in rapid succession.

Kagome found herself pushed down from behind as Gan noticed the impending danger, which led to the inevitable missing of her flesh by Sesshomaru's claws. As Gan rolled herself and Kagome out of the way, she realized that the gun which she'd worked so hard to complete was only one screw away from completion and she grunted, throwing Kagome safely to the side as she lunged for the weapon. Sesshomaru, looking slightly peeved that his original execution plan was thwarted, scowled and began advancing towards where Kagome lay beside a half-concious Rin.

Gan turned the knife hilt so quickly she was sure her wrists might break, but she nearly gasped as she finally drilled in the final screw to her now backwards molecule ray. She grabbed it and leapt to her feet, sprinting towards Sesshomaru as she threw the gun into the ready position. Kagome winced and instinctively threw her arms across Rin as Sesshomaru prepared to attempt another strike, but again she never felt the blow.

Sesshomaru, while seeming as though he were preocuppied with Kagome and Rin, was keeping tabs on the third concious human fiddling with the gun. When she came sprinting up, preparing to shoot him, he turned abruptly and caught her with a closed fist in the throat. Gan tried to gasp but found herself unable to as her voice disappeared and tears of pain pricked her eyes. She began to cough uncontrollably as she fell to the ground, writhing in pain as she clutched at her throat; blood began to spurt from her mouth as she coughed, the gun laying prostrate beside her.

At this moment in time, Kagome had another one of those moments in her life when she realized what truly mattered. Her eyes fell on Rin, who was murumuring blearily to herself, to Gan where she was wretching on the floor, and out in the warehouse, where Inuyasha lay still and deathly white, streaked with crimson. A certain determination gripped Kagome as she felt strength course through her veins and she growled, knowing that she could never give up the hope with fueled her. In one desperate attempt to make things right, she scrambled towards the gun and felt its cold metal in her hands, gripping her as she raised it to fire.

Sesshomaru was upon her so quickly she wondered if he'd even left her side in the first place. She could feel his hot breath, see the amber pupil in his crimson eyes, feel the wind as he raised his claws to finish her pathetic life once and for all. Kagome knew that Sesshomaru was going to beat her with his claws before she could even get a shot off.

Rin, in her last strain of conciousness, could make out the silver hair of her boyfriend. Smiling faintly, she murmured, "Sesshomaru...I love you," before gracefully passing into unconciousness.

The air was thin as the word lay heavy in the breeze, seeming to echo throughout the room.

Sesshomaru hesitated and Kagome fired.

The blue beam which emanated from the gun caught Sesshomaru square in the chest and he stumbled back a few feet, roaring as the fangs in his mouth began to shorten. The claws extending from his fingertips slowly retracted until they were a normal demon length and, after a few moments, his eyes began to bleed amber. He fell to the ground when it appeared he was back to his original form, panting and twitching as his body became used to its new confines. Kagome, who had been closing her eyes even during the shot, cracked them open and allowed herself to look hopefully at Sesshomaru. Seeing that he looked perfectly normal, Kagome let loose a breath which seemed to draw the very energy from her body; Gan's improptu mechanics had worked.

It was then that she noticed the groaning which littered the room and she tensed; the other demons may've been down for the count, but they certainly weren't unconcious. She stood unsteadily to her feet, holding the gun as she stood from her kneeling position, and tried to stop her fingers from trembling as she observed the room before her. Controlling her very breath, she began to shoot.

Bankotsu. Akago. Ranbou. Kouga. Shitora. Hakkaku. Ginta. Axle. Max. Hiten.

And finally, Inuyasha.

Kagome began to shake quite violently as the gun fell from her hands, clattering on the floor as she collapsed. She wasn't sure if it was fatigue, her injuries or the sheer emotional stress, but she began to sob as she lay there, completely and totally inconsolable. It was partially happy and partially exhausted sobbing, she realized, as she heard the confused voices of her friends. Even when it looked as though it were all hopeless, fate somehow came through once again. She had survived. They had all survived.

Sesshomaru stared at the ceiling as he continuously tried to move his leaden limbs. He had been fully transformed for such a great length of time that he was completely and totally drained, both mentally and physically. He couldn't remember a single thing about being transformed, though this was often the case; the dog demon could vaguely recall being hit with some sort of gun before the demon took over him. Despite his injuries, Sesshomaru's hearing was flawless as he made out the sounds of footsteps approaching from the hallway.

The massive South doors swung open, squeaking on their hinges as the footsteps grew increasingly louder, this time joined after a moment by a second pair; in the background, Sesshomaru could vaguely met out the sound of someone sobbing uncontrollably. Sesshomaru scowled as his nose determined that Naraku and Ryuukoytsusei had not only entered the room, but were approaching him.

Naraku's expression was one of complete and total arrogance as he glanced around the room, noting the halfdead bodies strewn about. He noticed after a moment that they had somehow transformed back to their original forms, but it was really no matter; he had come to finish this once and for all. He approached the once mighty Sesshomaru Taisho, Ryuukoytsusei walking some feet behind him with a dull quality about his step, and Naraku stood over his arch rival with a smug grin on his androgenous features.

Naraku's crimson eyes were glowing with mirth as he whispered, "Well, well, how the might have fallen. You can't move a muscle, can you?"

Sesshomaru growled, eyes widening as he made an attempt to rise, but he winced as he was then overcome with spasms of pain. Naraku laughed heartily, an ugly sound which permeated the warehouse and made the dog demon physically ill. "The war is mine Sesshomaru. And now you'll die and no one will remember you." Naraku withdrew a pistol from his belt and cocked it back, placing his finger on the trigger.

It's strange to think that fate can go a number of ways. Perhaps if one takes path A instead of path B, they end up at destination D instead of C and so on. Naraku could easily have shot Sesshomaru in the head and gone along his way, taking over as King of the Tokyo territories and making illigetimate deals to his heart's content. This might've lead to a growth in the Tokyo underworld, which would therefore increase mob ties, which would therefore bring Tokyo to its knees. But none of this happened because Ryuukoytsusei had an epiphany as Naraku readied his gun and he decided that yes, someone was going to die and no one would remember them.

Sesshomaru had already prepared himself for the spray of blood and it occurred, though the blood was not his own as expected. It was instead the blood of Naraku. Naraku had been fully prepared to shoot, had held his gun upraised and placed his finger on the trigger, but Ryuukoytsusei had beaten him to it. Silently and unceremoniously, Ryuu raised his Dragon claws and tored them across Naraku's muscular back, cutting jagged lines through Naraku's leather Spider jacket as he went. Naraku pulled the trigger as planned, though the shot went awry and hit one of the upper most rafters, causing insulation to rain down in a brief storm upon the concrete in the corner.

Naraku looked positively horrified as he fell to the ground, surrounded by a growing pool of his own blood as his vision began to blur. He could make out Ryuukoytsusei's boot as the Dragon demon stood above him; Ryuu retrieved the pistol from the floor, where it lay mere inches from Naraku's bloody hand. Ryuu cocked the pistol for the final time, pointing it down at Naraku's writhing body with steel in his crimson eyes.

"Traitor," Naraku hissed, coughing as blood rose up to choke him in his throat.

Narrowing his gaze with an air of finality, Ryuu growled in reply, "You bet your ass."

With a last shot to the temple, Naraku Onigumo breathed his final breath and died on the floor of his warehouse, leaving behind a dark spirit which seemed to dissipate more with each passing moment. Sesshomaru was staring, aghast, at Naraku's dead body some feet from his own.

Unsure as to what had just occurred, the dog demon murmured hoarsely, "Why?"

Ryuukoytsusei stared darkly down at the gun in his hand, allowing it to drop to the floor as he turned on his heels. Without answering Sesshomaru's question, the dragon exited the room, leaving behind the faint echo of his boots squelching on the bloody pavement. Kagome's sobbing had ceased as the exhaustion and bloodloss overcame her, sending her into a peaceful unconciousness which was actually quite welcoming. The silence in the warehouse was defeaning, though Sesshomaru was quite sure that he wouldn't have to endure it much longer; his own blood loss and pain was beginning to catch up to him.

With his last breath of energy, Sesshomaru managed to turn his head to the side and he just caught the call button on his microphone, wincing as every muscle in his body burned with the movement. The line crackled and Shippo's voice came on the line. "Sesshomaru?! Is that you?!"

"Shippo...," he breathed, knowing it was finally over for the last time. "We...won...need...help..."

This was all Sesshomaru managed to get out as the blackness bled across his vision and he fell completely limp, vaguely aware of the cold but blood-damp concrete as he wearily embraced a much needed rest. After a battle to remember, the Southerners had finally come out on top and the North was put to rest, no doubt fated to die with their leader. Though it was unclear where good and bad began and ended, it was to be sure that the lesser evil had won and would now live on, reigning over the outskirts of the Tokyo underworld, leaving behind nary a trace. Sesshomaru Taisho and his Fangs would see to that.

**I can not even begin to explain how hard that was to write but damn, was it fun. I worked so long on this I feel like its a part of me. GEEZ. Okay. **

**Well, there's one more chapter and an epilogue left in this story, which is sure to be the first of many in this series. Yes, it's definitely going to be a series! Aren't you excited? I definitely am. Okay! Well, I updated quickly this time so everyone be proud of me. I love all my reviewers and I'm finally going to go to sleep; its 2:19 in the morning and I have to get up at 6. Love!**

**KOLU**


	33. Recovery

**I got such good feedback on the last chapter! I love you all so much and as we come to the end, I hope everyone will carry on into the sequel with me. We're like a team. That was corny. That's okay.**

Sesshomaru became vaguely aware of a warmth at his side before he ever opened his eyes. The sound of ocean waves crashing on the shore, mixing with that of seabirds and beach breeze, was soothing and disconcerting at the same time; Sesshomaru knew no familiar place where he could be resting by the sea. His amber eyes opened to find that the warmth at his side was Rin, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and that he appeared to be in some sort of beach house; the room was tan and the floors a polished hardwood, along with white linen curtains in the doorway which let in gusts of sea air. The peaceful air captured him for a moment before he furrowed his brow; how did he get here?

It was then that Sesshomaru noticed a certain tightness in his torso and glanced down, startled to find a small patch on the right side in the middle of his chest, right between his abdomen and sternum. There was a dark black stain in the center of the bandage, obviously dried blood, but Sesshomaru couldn't remember being injured; it was then that the fight returned to his mind and he sighed, closing his eyes wearily. They'd finally won, Naraku was dead, and Salter was theirs. Relief washed over him like the waves on the shore below and he allowed himself to lay back heavily against the pillows behind him.

It was then that the dog demon felt a pair of eyes on him and he glanced down at his side, where Rin's large brown orbs were observing him intently. He raised a smooth silver eyebrow and couldn't help but release the smallest of amused smiles. "Good morning, Rin."

The girl smiled brightly, sitting up in a gentle manner and allowing the sheets to fall below her torso; it weren't as though Sesshomaru hadn't seen her naked many times before. Her boyfriend noticed the gingerness with which she moved and finally understood when his eyes fell to her chest and arms, which were littered with gashes and bruises, many of them bandaged and others open to heal. Rin must've seen the pain in his eyes for she reached up a slender hand, cupping his tan cheek.

"I'm okay, Sesh."

The honesty in her eyes nearly broke his heart and he sighed, covering her hand with his larger one. "I know," he replied quietly. He sometimes forgot that Rin was among the strongest women in the universe; it was this reason, amongst many others, which caused him to love her so deeply though, at times, he only wanted to protect her without interruption. Namely her interruptions. It looked as though this time he'd failed to protect her at all.

"Where are we?"

"The Shark headquarters at the oceanside. They took us here after the fight."

"I don't remember much," he confessed, voice low and rather hoarse from lack of use.

"You were transformed for at least fifteen minutes," Rin said, eyes downcast. "That's why you slept for so long, maybe two or three days. This right here," she continued, running her fingertips along the patch on his chest, "Is a burn wound from where Kagome transformed you back; you were at such close range that it left a third degree burn."

The amusement in Sesshomaru's eyes was evident as he asked, "Kagome? Little Kagome caused me a third degree burn?"

"'Little Kagome' saved us all," Rin replied quietly, smiling all the while. Sunlight drifted briefly through the curtains, catching her face and making her seem radiant and otherworldly in Sesshomaru's eyes. He gave one of his rare, genuine smiles and leaned forward, kissing Rin lovingly on the forehead. She closed her eyes at the contact, savoring a moment with the man she'd loved since childhood.

"Then it seems my brother chose his woman well," was all the Fang leader said in reply.

"And now I'll choose her too," Rin said strongly, eyes burning as she tightened her mouth determinedly.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that?"

"You'll see," came Rin's mysterious response. With this, the lovers laid down on pillows of clean white cotton, drifting into sleep as their hearts and minds felt finally at ease.

Sango winced slightly as she readjusted her shoulders against the lawn chair in which she was reclining, soaking up the sun on the deck of the Shark beach house. Miroku glanced over at her, watching her for a moment as though waiting to see if she needed assistance, before returning to his thoughts; the battle, though a few days ago, seemed so far away. The bruises on his neck had grown enflamed and were now painfully obvious, a gross yellow blue green, around his throat. It was painful to laugh, but he could talk almost comfortably. He was just happy that the battle had ended with only one significant death: that of Naraku.

Only when he heard footsteps did Miroku open his eyes. They were soft but calculated footsteps, footsteps which undoubtedly belonged to a woman. Smiling to himself, Miroku turned to face Gan the Gun, musing to himself that no matter how flawless her performance had been, the signs had always been there.

Gan was wearing one of her oversized shirts and jeans with her Shark's jacket thrown over her shoulder; it looked rather odd to see her in the oversized clothes she'd worn as a boy. Watching her approach, golden hair hanging loosely about her shoulders, Miroku couldn't help but shake his head; though he'd never say it out loud, especially to Akago, he respected and admired Gan for being able to crossdress without mistake for almost four entire years.

"Morning Gan," he said, nodding to the girl in a gentle way.

Gan turned at his voice and nodded as well, in the same ginger manner. Though their injuries were of a similar kind, Gan's was more long lasting; when Sesshomaru hit her in the throat, it had consequently damaged her voice box and she was now forced to speak in a quiet, hoarse tone. Demons could understand her perfectly, though humans often had a bit of trouble.

It was at this time that Miroku noticed the duffel bag thrown over her shoulder for the first time. "Going somewhere?"

"I think its time to leave," Gan whispered, observing Miroku with her calculative violet eyes. "I wish both of you happy lives." With this, she offered them both a second nod before walking calmly around the side of the building, footsteps receding along the plank walkway.

Sango glanced over at Miroku, face unreadable. "She left."

"Hmm," was all Miroku said in reply as he refocused his gaze on the horizon, thinking his own private thoughts about Gan the Gun and her many mysteries.

Gan sighed as she rounded the corner, reshouldering her bag and glancing out at the sea; the late morning sun caught the waves just perfectly as the seagulls cooed overhead. A soft, salty breeze blew in from the South and the girl closed her eyes as her golden hair danced around her face; she would certainly miss this place. Gan ran her hand lightly over the wood of the beachhouse behind her, letting out a deep, defeated breath. It was time to say goodbye.

She turned to go, staring at the ground before her when her eyes came in contact with a pair of familiar black boots. She followed them up a black pants leg where they eventually collided with a white venetian shirt; she knew his body before she even reached his face. Akago let out a breath of smoke, catching some of his white bangs in the crosswind; part of his braid was coming unwoven in the sea air. He seemed unfocused, though Gan knew he was there for a purpose.

"Are you going?" he asked quietly, voice its usual rich red timbre.

Gan felt part of her resolve wavering, but she shook away the uncertainty and addressed him as firmly as possible. "Yes. I've done my part."

Akago said nothing for a moment. He took another drag on his cigarette, causing Gan to glance away as the true impact of this day finally hit her; she was leaving Akago. For good, she was leaving him. No more playful banter, no more late night discussions of ancient philosophy, no more fantasizing about the future over coffee in the mornings. No handsome smiles, no pearls of wisdom, no chuckles of amusement, nothing; she would see no more of the man she'd shared her soul with for four straight years. With a pang of guilt, she realized that she'd thrown away the trust required to maintain a relationship. While she'd almost been forced into this life by unfortunate circumstances, the guilt still ate away at her gut like cancer.

Trying to ignore Akago's presence, as saying goodbye for the final time would probably kill the rest of her, Gan put one shaky foot forward and tried to continue along the plankway.

She found a white-clad arm barring her way, appearing so suddenly that she gasped and stumbled backwards. Akago looked unfazed and only continued smoking his cigarette, casting an eye over the girl when the silence began to thicken. She was gazing at him, violet eyes confused and almost hurt; was he going to prolong this? Must he torture her? _On second thought, maybe I deserve that, _she thought dully, smiling faintly in a sick sort of way.

Akago finally dropped his cigarette and crushed it to a smoldering stub beneath his boot sole. He seemed unbothered and unfettered, though he rarely seemed ruffled by storm or standoff. After a moment, he glanced over at the girl with which he'd unknowingly shared secrets and desires he could share with no man. Perhaps her femininity had played a part in their relationship, but he would never truly know. In the end, he wasn't sure if it mattered anyway.

"I haven't relinquished control of you," he said finally, crimson eyes holding her gaze locked in place.

Gan said nothing, wondering if her lip was trembling or if her entire body was. When held so sternly in his eyes, it was hard to tell backwards from forwards, in any case.

When he realized that Gan's mouth was going to remain closed, Akago continued, "And until I do so, you may go no where."

Though the words floated away on the breeze, Gan felt as though they were constantly parading around her skull. Was he suggesting...?

"Akago?" she asked uncertainly, furrowing her blonde brow in a disbelieving way.

"I still have use of you," came Akago's simple response. "And in kind, you may not leave." Without another word, Akago turned to exit by way of entering the beachhouse, but his journey was interrupted.

"After everything I've done you're going to keep me here? When I was going to leave peacefully, without contestation? I can't tell if your a sadist or a masochist!" Gan shouted bitterly, voice of a pleasantly sweet tambre, one quite unlike her normal tenor. The volume and force with which she spoke proved to be too much and Gan's throat gave a painful contraction, causing her to cough and wheeze as fire roared through her esophagus. She clutched at her neck, wincing as the sheer agony forced her to lean with her free hand against the beachhouse; tears leaked out her eyes from the marked intensity of the sensation.

"Gan?" Akago asked urgently, walking quickly towards her and steadying her with his arm. "Breathe slowly. I told you not to speak too loudly; you won't be able to yell like that for at least three months without pain. Honestly, and you call yourself a doctor."

"You're a bastard," came Gan's pained whisper as tears of pain dripped down her face, spotting the wooden planks below.

Quite used to insults like this, Akago couldn't help but smile faintly. "At least I dress to fit my sex."

Gan smiled, even through her tears. "You'd look awful in a dress," she gasped, still trying to catch her breath.

Akago smiled fondly and Gan smiled in return, the two meeting eyes before they forced themselves to look away. Akago furrowed his brow; what a strange feeling. At least he knew Gan's presence was assured for at least a little while longer. Boy or girl, Akago couldn't imagine life without Gan the Gun. And now he wouldn't have to.

As Ayame became steadily aware of the light assaulting her eyelids, she also noticed the warmth of someone's hand on her bare stomach. The touch was familiar and glanced easily down at it, managing to make out a series of freckles on the back of this mysterious hand; she smiled. The girl ran a hand through her red hair, which was matted and disheveled, obviously in desperate need of a shower and wash. The room smelled of salty see air and the cacophonous bird calls sounded throughout the bungalow; wherever she was, it was quite peaceful.

Beside her, Kouga breathed deeply against Ayame's shoulder blade and his hand shifted slightly, sending a smooth, cool sensation across her belly. Ayame sighed peacefully and covered Kouga's hand with hers, beginning to resettle into sleep when flashes of the battle returned to her. Her eyes snapped open quite suddenly and drifted towards her stomach where she distinctly remembered being shot. Shifting Kouga's hand slightly, she rested her green gaze on a bullet wound near the right side of her abdomen. It was scabbing over and had been left open, most likely for healing purposes, but it was still rather grotesque. It wasn't that she minded scars so much, it was just so...unsightly. So angry.

"Morning, babe."

Kouga's voice set her at ease somewhat, though she couldn't help but think about the scar all the same. "Morning," she said with a small smile, twisting her head back and kissing him sweetly on the lips. The kiss lingered for a moment and came to a natural end, leaving Ayame falling prey to Kouga's ice blue eyes when they parted. His eyes were so mesmerizing, it was a wonder she hadn't already drowned in them.

"How you feelin'?" Kouga asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Fine," came Ayame's distant reply. "It doesn't hurt."

Kouga quietly observed Ayame's downcast gaze, noticing as it strayed towards the bullet wound, before he murmured, "If it doesn't hurt, why are you looking at it?"

"Because..." Ayame trailed off, wondering briefly why she _was _looking at it. Her hands had plenty of scars from shop accidents and she was sure there were some on her legs from sports. But on her stomach, chest and back there were none. Why did it bother her so? "It's just gross looking, thats all."

Kouga was silent for a moment before he said, "It'll look better when it heals, babe. It'll just be a white mark, like scars always are." When Ayame said nothing, Kouga continued lightly, "No one will see it."

"You'll see it," Ayame replied in an almost bitter whisper.

Without a word, Kouga ran his thumb over the bullet wound, kissing her neck in a loving gesture. Ayame couldn't help but smile as Kouga said, "Aya, I've always thought you were gorgeous and I always will. No scar is gonna change my mind."

Ayame sat up gingerly, feeling a certain warmth engulf her at Kouga's words; unconditional love was a blessed thing to be sure. She glanced down at her lover only to noticed something strange about his naked torso; there were three hideous wounds on his chest, gross blacks and reds, at least nine inches long each. Gasping, she reached down her hands, running her fingertips lightly across the offending gashes and causing Kouga to wince slightly.

"Aya-"

"What are these?!"

The desperation in his girlfriend's eyes caused Kouga to wince, this time not out of physical pain but emotional pain. "Akago told me that Sesshomaru got me with his acid claws when we were transformed." Ayame looked almost surprised, though she knew Sesshomaru hadn't been in his faculties; he and Kouga were best friends to the point of death. Even in his demonic state...how could Sesshomaru have done this?

"Does it hurt?" she asked faintly, tracing her fingers along the black and red scars, which were raised from the skin and reminded her of burnt liquid, what with their crusted black surface.

"Yeah," Kouga said truthfully, taking her wandering hand gently in his and removing it from his skin, which burned fiercely under any sort of touch. "Not a whole hell of a lot, but just enough."

Ayame seemed to calm slightly, though she still looked fairly upset. She leaned back against the pillows, allowing her head to rest on Kouga's shoulder a fair distance away from his injury. The couple was silent for a moment, breathing in unison, until Kouga murmured steadily, "We'll be okay."

Ayame closed her eyes softly, nuzzling her cheek against Kouga's smooth skin. Finally she said, "Yeah. We'll be okay."

Shitora became aware of her surroundings only to find something very disturbing about her current situation: she was naked, as was her bed mate, who just happened to be Ranbou. Blushing madly, the half demon girl closed her eyes and wondered momentarily what could've caused Kei and Nanashi to do such a thing. They must've assumed that Shitora and Ranbou had already had sex, which they hadn't.

Despite her proccupation with her nakedness, Shitora noticed something far more disturbing when she finally got a good look at her own naked body. It was covered in hideous gashes, browns, blues and blacks which seemed to stain every part of her skin. She looked like she'd been to hell and back more than once, which she supposed she had; she remembered very little about the fight, only vaguely recalling the screaming of her seppanyoukai as she entered the darkness of her transformation. Her own problems were momentarily forgotten as she glanced down at Ranbou and noticed the alarming amount of gauze and bandages around his stomach; crimson red was already beginning to stain the top of the gauze pad.

Though she couldn't see very much of the wound, Shitora found herself frightened by the mere thought of it. It was then that her amber eyes, a muddy gold with sleep, came across a much different mark on Ranbou's shoulder. It was actuall a series of marks, obviously made by claws which she gauged were of the dog family. The girl furrowed her snow white brow as she ran her fingertips lightly over the gashes, wondering if the impossible had occurred during her mental absence. She hadn't done this, had she?

Shitora gasped as a much larger hand grabbed hers, pulling it away from the scars. "You molesting me in my sleep, Sukini?"

The girl's voice warmed at the sound of Ranbou's playful tone. "You wish, Wolfboy," she replied, voice hoarse and quiet. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"Nah," Ranbou replied haphazardly, sitting up slightly as his black hair fell like a curtain around him; someone had released it from its normal ponytail. His eyes were their normal ice blue, which somehow set Shitora's mind at ease, almost as thought she'd expected everything to be different when she woke up. "You were the late riser. I've been awake since yesterday."

"Yeah? You look a lot worse off than me," Shitora commented, brow furrowing cutely in the way Ranbou adored. "Wonder what took me so long."

"I dunno," Ranbou replied mildly, grinning handsomely.

His smile faded slightly as his eyes unconciously drifted downwards. Shitora followed his eyes and gave a small squeak, grabbing the sheet and pulling it frantically up to her neck. "Hey! Don't look!"

"Sorry," Ranbou laughed, finding a good deal of humor in this situation. "Wonder who stripped us naked."

"Whoever they are, I'm gonna kill em," Shitora muttered mutinously.

"Not like I care, Sukini, and you shouldn't either. Just cause we ain't had sex yet doesn't mean we can't deal with bein' naked. We're adults, right?" Ranbou reasoned, looking completely unaffected by the goings on. In all reality, he was so inwardly smug he could barely keep it down; yes, he'd seen her breasts. And he could die happy because apparently, her ass wasn't the only perfect thing about Shitora Taisho.

Shitora continued blushing for a moment before she suddenly adopted a sly smirk. "Had sex _yet_? Who says you're gettin' anything from me?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that you'd be missin' out on the best fuck this side a town," Ranbou said pompously. "I'm great in bed."

Shitora giggled, as she knew this was Ranbou's way of joking, and laid calmly back down. "Yeah, I bet you talk dirty." In her best impression of Ranbou's deep, gravelly voice, she growled, "That's right baby, take it all. Oh yeah, that's real good, scream for me just like that."

As Shitora collapsed in a fit of giggles on his upper chest, Ranbou sighed dramatically and muttered, "You just don't appreciate it cause you ain't had it. Lemme tell you, once you get a go at this joy stick, you'll never even touch another gaming system, you feel me?"

This only continued to worsen Shitora's hilarity and Ranbou smiled fondly; like Shitora, he'd almost expected everything to go down the toilet after the battle. It seemed that nothing had changed at all, excluding the states of their bodies, as they were currently sitting with one another, joking about sex; this was as per usual, so perhaps this supposed "change" wasn't going to be the drastic disaster Ranbou had imagined.

It was then that Shitora's hand accidentally brushed the gauze on his stomach and he winced ever so slightly. Shitora stopped laughing abruptly and frowned, looking fearfully up at Ranbou. "Oh god! Sorry, sorry! I'm a clumsy shit, Ran, are you okay?"

"You just barely touched it Sukini, I'm not gonna keel over or anythin'," Ranbou replied lightly, blue eyes twinkling. "I'm just glad all this shit is over. Akago said Naraku died in the end."

Resettling herself, Shitora looked warily at the wound she'd irritated and wondered if things would ever really be "over." Instead of voicing her cocerns, she simply said, "Yeah. Me too."

The two closed their eyes and drifted into a light sleep, wary of each other's wounds even in their sleep. Even with Naraku dead and his threat momentarily gone, Shitora couldn't help but shake the feeling that Naraku was only the tip of the evil iceberg in this town. It was as though an underground movement were surging up, preparing to overtake her peaceful way of life. Smiling slightly, Shitora lovingly nuzzled her head in Ranbou's shoulder and was rewarded with a gentle ear rub from one of Ranbou's strong, tan hands. Maybe it wasn't always peaceful, but Shitora found herself appreciating life more and more as the days moved forward. She was fairly sure that love had something to do with it.

Inuyasha saw nothing put darkness when he first awoke, only able to feel sea breeze and hear the sweet sound of distant humming. As he became more aware, his senses returned slowly until he could see hazy colors and images floating before his eyes. The humming grew closer, louder, though it was still gentle and calm. He could now recognize the scent and sound as Kagome's, a fact which brought a smile to his face. The scent of this whole place was strangely familiar, but he soon equated it with the Shark headquarters he'd barged into earlier that summer, looking for Gan the Gun to attend the merger meeting. The summer had taken such a strange turn in the end, but Inuyasha supposed that it had been a good one.

Unlike the others, Inuyasha remembered the events immediately and his eyes snapped open as he said desperately, "Is he dead?!"

Kagome gave a visible start and nearly toppled back in her seat, breathing heavily as she readjusted her back against the wooden beach chair in which she rested. The sight of Inuyasha's open amber eyes made her smile; he'd been asleep for a few days now, worrying her endlessly, and she hadn't moved from his bedside but to take bathroom breaks and occasionally meals. It seemed that now it was truly all better.

But Inuyasha wasn't satisfied with simply being awake; he had to know. "Is he dead? Is Naraku dead?" he repeated urgently.

Kagome smiled almost sadly, eyes recalling those pictures and images from the fight, which now seemed so long ago when it had only been days. "Yes. Dead as dead can be."

Though Inuyasha relaxed visibly, he still sat erect, ignoring the pain in his chest. "Who got him in the end?"

"Ryuukoytsusei."

The two were silent after Kagome's words, which Inuyasha couldn't seem to find an answer to. It wasn't long before a sick and almost twisted smile found its way to his lips, where it lingered like a paralyzed limb. He looked so ill it pained Kagome's heart, but she knew to find joy in such a terrible thing could only make a person mad in the head such as it was doing to everyone in the Fangs. They'd dealt with Naraku's terrorism for too long and now, his death brought them great happiness. Kagome had to admit that, deep inside her bitter and bruised heart, she too was glad to see him die. After all, he'd practically put cancerous disease upon her pysche and it ate away at her, day after day. She acted as though it didn't bother her, but every single second she thought of the torture she'd undergone. He was so perverse, it sickened her physically just thinking of his face. This war had taken its toll on everyone, but she was suffering far more than anyone knew.

"That's not how I imagined it goin', but I guess that suits me fine," Inuyasha said gruffly, working himself into a sitting position with Kagome's careful assistance.

"It surprised us all," Kagome agreed, sighing to herself and looking far less happy that Inuyasha supposed she should. Naraku was finally laying with the worms; what was there to be _sad _about?

Inuyasha reached out one of his clawed hands, noticing briefly that most of his limbs were now covered in scars. "Kagome? What's wrong?"

The girl shook her head slightly, turning her face away. "Nothing," she replied, though hardly convincing. Inuyasha could swear he heard the tears in her voice before he even smelt them.

Without another word, Inuyasha reached out his arms and pulled Kagome to him, wherein she dissolved into fits of sobs. She buried her face in the clean cotton sheets, grabbing handfuls of material in angry fits as Inuyasha raked his claws gently across her back; it always soothed her, but not this time. Nothing could soothe her this time. Perhaps it hadn't bothered her at the time, but the fact that Kagome had been stripped, tied to a cross and brutally abused was starting to wear on her already tired conscious. She was tired, tired of wondering if a simple walk down the street would mean death in this town. Maybe Naraku was physically gone from this world, but his presence lingered behind in every scar, every welt, every tear she shed. He was behind the corners she turned, walking beside her down the streets she crossed, turning the wrenches in her hands. It wasn't even Naraku himself so much as it was the things he represented; hardship, anger, fear, loss. Oh yes, even though they'd gained a victory, every single Southerner carried a feeling of loss with them along with that sensation of triumph. They'd lost many things in this war, pride included. Perhaps they'd won this war, but who knew what the next would bring? Throughout history, whenever a dictator left, something more horrible followed and Kagome was expecting it just as much as the next Fang. Who would come to torture them now?

"Kagome," Inuyasha said quietly, burying his nose in her hair; she always smelled of roses, even now. "I know...I know that it's hard. I know this sounds lame and cheesy like a crappy romance movie, but I've been here before, all of us have. I mean, back in the days before Sesshomaru was leader, we were beat up on a daily basis, our bikes and cars fucked with, all that. Naraku used to have free reign of this place. I mean, Miroku still had a huge scar on his leg where a Spider cut him up at a race when we were 11." Kagome glanced up, eyes glassy with tears; 11? As though he could read her questions in her gaze, Inuyasha said sadly, "Yeah, we started young. We've never known nothin' else cause hell struck right when we got into middle school. Everyone's moms started dying, the Yakuza moved up in power with the death of the mayor, our dads started disappearing to do hell knows what, but we got through that and it was twenty times worse than this. We'll get through this too, not cause we're strong or 'good people,' but cause we don't got a choice. If the Fangs aren't on top, someone else will be, and that could never be right."

Kagome listened carefully to Inuyasha's words, drinking them in, savoring their flavor. For someone who rarely spoke a wise word, he had the strangest tendency to come up with brilliant speeches on command. She looked deep into his amber eyes, seeing more than simple strength there; she saw determination, sadness, pain, power, grief, anger, but most of all, love.

Resting her raven black hair against Inuyasha's smooth, naked chest, Kagome murmured, "I've never seen anything scarier than all of you in your demon forms. I mean, it was one thing at the race, but this time...if I never have to see that again, it'll be too soon."

Inuyasha sighed, a tired, beaten sigh. "Yeah. I don't know what the fuck those guns were, but I'm gonna destroy ever single fucking one. Enemy or not, I could never use those. It just ain't right and we were taught that right outta the womb."

The two were silent for a moment as the sounds of seagulls drifted in from the outside. The salty air made Inuyasha's nose itch, though he wasn't sure if it was the salt or the sensation of Kagome's hair tickling his skin. Either way, he was already burning with the desire to run, to get out of this bed and flee from this place. He made as though to sit up, but grunted and lay back down almost immediately; his stomach was writhing with pain.

"Don't move, Inuyasha," Kagome ordered fiercely, wiping away her tears and fixing him with an icy glare. "It took an hour just to stich those wounds."

It was then that Inuyasha noticed the large claw marks on his stomach, though he knew they were anything but ordinary. They burned with not only pain but familiarity; Sesshomaru's acid claws. "He got me good," the hanyou remarked, looking more amused than anything.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "And scared us half to death. I thought Sesshomaru was scary when he was just walking around, but I had no idea."

"Did he...hurt anybody else?" Inuyasha asked tentatively; he already knew the answer for, once in his demon form, Sesshomaru was unstoppable and he knew that. He just wanted to hear the words.

Kagome sobered, shaking her head. "He crushed Gan's voicebox, practically ripped out Ranbou's stomach, then he got you. This was all after he did God knows what to everyone else; we were busy trying to reconfigure one of the ray guns to shoot backwards." At Inuyasha's confused glance, she muttered, "Yeah, don't ask."

"Gan's...voice box?" Inuyasha practically whispered; the injury sounded painful, though he wasn't quite sure what it entailed.

"She can only whisper now; any louder and she starts coughing and she's in a lot of pain. I'm not sure what's going to happen," she replied, looking thoroughly distressed by this news. She laid down beside Inuyasha once more, wary of his wounds as she closed her eyes softly, inhaling his scent. "I'm so tired, Inuyasha. I just want to sleep for a few weeks, leave this all behind."

"Go to sleep," Inuyasha replied in a gruff whisper. "This time, I promise I'll protect you."

And Kagome knew it was true.

As soon as Shitora's breathing slowed in sleep, Ranbou gently moved her aside and inched carefully out of the bed, wincing ever few motions and praying to the Gods that he made it outside without a sound. He knew Shitora needed a peaceful rest since she'd done nothing but toss and turn since the battle; he could probably use a little sleep himself, but the very thought of another nap made him physically ill. He needed one thing and one thing only to sustain himself and by god he would have his cigarette.

The outside air was cool and alive on his skin as he leaned on the banister, looking out on the beach below and the ocean beyond. Seagulls were beginning to turn in for the night and the low belch of a fog horn soothed Ranbou as he drew in a deep breath of smoke; it was familiar in his lungs. He pitied humans like Miroku and Sango who smoked at a price; as a demon, it was virtually impossible for cigarettes to harm him in any way. He felt as though he needed something to do with his hands and his mouth at the same time to keep them both out of trouble. The wolf demon winced as pain shot through his stomach; perhaps he hadn't died this time, but he'd obviously come closer than ever before.

"You shouldn't be movin' around."

Ranbou glanced haphazardly to his right where Kouga was leaning, likewise, against the wooden railing. He wasn't looking at his older brother, but this last comment was obviously aimed in his direction. Ranbou didn't answer for a moment as he unconsciously glanced Kouga up and down, as though looking for injuries. He found a few, but nothing that worried him to any noticeable extent. The slash marks on Kouga's chest were the most bothersome, but Ranbou knew his brother would push through just like he always did. Ranbou sometimes felt weak in the presence of his little brother, though he might never say it.

"I needed a smoke," was all the older Ookami said in reply.

The brothers were silent, twin ponytails blowing like raven-black whips in the wind, until a pair of small footsteps approached from their left. Both turned their ice blue gazes to face the disturbance, only to let out audible breaths as they recognized the presence; the battle had certainly left them on the edge.

Kinanme paused warily, shrinking back from her brothers. "What? Did I interrupt guy time or something?"

"Naw," Ranbou reassured her, sighing tiredly. "We're just...you know what, never mind, come on over here."

The youngest Ookami girl did as she was bid, hugging her thin arms to her chest as her white house dress billowed around her. Ranbou smiled slightly as he watched his sister leaning back against the same wooden banister as her brothers, lips pouty and face entirely like their mother's. Kinanme was like a walking, talking carbon copy of the late Ookami queen and sometimes, it made Ranbou miss her. Other times, he felt as though he was with her anyway.

"You alright?" Kouga asked his sister, glancing her over for injuries.

She shifted her shoulders slightly, showing her brothers a scalding red burn on her left shoulder blade. "They got me with that stun gun thing, but otherwise I'm okay." After a brief silence, she murmured, "I, uh, checked on both of you once but you were both kinda naked with your girlfriends...so I din't stick around. But I was there."

Kouga blushed and Ranbou grinned wolfishly, chuckling at bother his brother's and sister's embarassment. "S'not like we were havin' wild sex, Kina. We were kinda busy bein' unconscious."

Kinanme rolled her ice blue eyes and reached habitually for a box of cigarettes in her dress pocket. "I know that, aniki, but you were _naked._" When Ranbou was silent, Kinanme glanced over at her brother as she carefully lit the cigarette between her lips. "What?"

Ranbou was looking wistfully off into the distance, his own cigarette almost forgotten; his eyes were such a dark blue as he looked towards the horizon, they could've been the ocean's mirror. "Nothin'. I jus' haven't heard you call me that in a while."

Kouga could swear that he saw a glimmer in Ranbou's eye, but he would never say a word; with the lives they were all leading these days, everyone needed to sit down and have a cry once and while. He did pity the fact that Ranbou was having his cry in public, but Kouga had top admit that the idea of being called 'big brother' again made even him a little emotional.

At Ranbou's explanation, Kina squirmed a little under the weight of such an admittance. "Oh...sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"Naw, kid, s'alright. I missed it, I guess."

After a moment, during which Kinanme wasn't sure what to do, she finally took a few steps forward and embraced Ranbou from the side, almost dwarfed by his much larger frame. Kouga smiled as Ranbou wrapped his good arm around Kinanme's thin shoulders, smiling down at her as she buried her face in his side. He could feel the wetness of tears on his skin, but just like Kouga, he said nothing.

Kouga glanced up at the sound of footsteps, smile lighting his face as Kotone entered the scene from behind him. Her hair was hanging loose around her, a midnight waterfall on her pale skin. She, too, was smiling, though her usual demure one as opposed to Kouga's toothy grin. She looked slightly ill, though Kouga knew that the stun guns had probably done their work.

"Hey," he murmured.

Kotone followed his gaze to where Ranbou and Kinanme were standing, holding one another as smoke rose in two separate trails. Her smile quirked slightly and she siged elegnatly, "_She really missed him. Every other word was 'Well, Ranbou always said...'"_

Kouga chuckled. "_Well, he talks a lot so I guess she might have a quote for every occassion."_

Smiling, Kouga gently wrapped her arms around Kouga and rested her head on his shoulder; the action made Kouga's smile falter slightly; his mother had always done that to Kibishii when he was younger. It had always looked strange, with Kibishii being so tall and burly and then his mother like a graceful little dancer, holding him. As a young child, Kouga had always wondered why his father didn't push his mother away; after all, having a woman making you look so unmanly was compromising, wasn't it? But his father never did. No matter what the circumstances, Kibishii always smiled and kissed his wife's head. And Kouga did so now, smiling when his sister's arms tightened around him.

Ranbou and Kinanme were currently leaning forward on the pier railing, watching the horizon like hawks waiting for prey. Both were restless souls, though they didn't know what could be waiting for them. Finally, Ranbou said, "So, you stayin' here er what?"

Kinanme sighed, heavy and tired. "I dunno, Ran, we're probably goin' back home. I mean, we've got lives out there now. Lives, friends, fami-"

The girl cut off quickly, startled by her near usage of the word, and looked pointedly away from what she was sure would be Ranbou's hurt face. After a moment Ranbou murmured, "Family, huh? So...yer pretty serious about Skull, or what?"

At this point, Kinanme blushed fiercely and muttered, "I dunno."

"How long you been goin' out?" Ranbou replied casually.

Kinanme had to think for a moment before she finally replied, "Maybe...2 years? It's hard to remember sometimes, but I think its been about 2 years."

"Huh. Two years," came Ranbou's second muttered reply. He seemed to think in silence for a moment before continuing, "Guess it doesn't get much better than Tobi Skull, huh?"

There was a silence between the two before Kinanme realized that this might be what Ranbou considered consent. He was giving her consent to date Skull. Her smile grew impossibly wide and she glanced over at him with her clever ice blue eyes, which met his like twin glaciers.

"Guess not. He's somethin'."

While she seemed nochalant, she would never tell Ranbou that, in the end, his approval was the only approval that mattered.

"...and I don't remember much of anything. But I plan on making rounds later to check on everyone."

Inuyasha nodded menially at his brother's comment, watching Sesshomaru levelly as his brother's profile became gracefully silhouetted against the sunset. Something about the way he stood there, looking so sternly out at the sea, seemed to capture the moment for Inuyasha. Sesshomaru seemed to think he was in command of absolutely everything, the sea included, and he must think that it would bow to him just like the gangs did. The hanyou sighed, watching as guilt crept up in his brother's gaze; despite his awesome power, Sesshomaru was feeling the weight of his demon sins. It seemed like every moment he remained there, he recounted the battle in which he'd unknowingly and unconsciously torn apart his friends and family. Not even the powerful Sesshomaru Taisho could outrun guilt forever.

Casting his amber eyes out across the ocean, Inuyasha murmured, "I dunno what to do now, ya know? I mean, our whole life was racing and all that shit...but now there ain't no one to fight."

"The Dragons," Sesshomaru mentioned. "Though I suppose many would consider it rude to challenge the man who just killed our greatest enemy."

"Feh, we coulda killed him if we'd got the chance," came Inuyasha's bitter reply, though he knew Sesshomaru spoke the truth. Going after Ryuukoytsusei would be counter productive.

Sesshomaru lit a cigarette and cupped the flame in his hands, willing away the sea breeze as he took a drag. "I can't tell whether or not I regret not killing him or regret the thought of being unable to kill him. But whatever the reason, the absence of Naraku means the absence of another thorn in my side."

Inuyasha smirked; calling Naraku a mere "thorn" was so copasetic, he almost wanted to give his brother a high five, though nothing of this sort would go on. Smiling a little, the hanyou leaned on the banister and mumbled, "I almost don't know what to do now."

"It's not like races will stop. I'll contact Ryuu and we'll be up and running again."

"Well then," Inuyasha said thoughtfully, "Maybe I do know what to do."

"There's only one thing to do, little brother," Sesshomaru said with a smoky smile.

The brothers exchanged a glance and grinned simultaneously, chuckling as the forsaw the future. With Naraku and his gang disbanded, there really was only one way for the Fangs to finish out the summer. And Inuyasha would see to it that next Saturday.

**WOOT. Sorry for the wait, I had hell week for the play and now I'm charging straight into the musical and then I have SATs, SAT IIs and APs. I hate standardized testing. Its so unfair. Anyway, love you guys, and next chapter we'll talk about how I'm gonna set up the next story! SO EXCITING!**

**KOLU**


	34. That's What It's All About

**Okay guys. Well, this is the end of the first story, which has become my pride and joy even before the renovation. I'm going to renovate it and fix all the typos in hopes that an IYFanguild award is not too lofty a goal. Don't worry; this story will continue for quite a while. I've already made loads of plans for it and, in my brilliant forsight, wrote them down (heehee...)**

**There is an explanatory note right after this talking about the sequel and how it's all gonna go down. Love to everyone; read on and conquer!**

"It's hard to believe the summer is almost over," Rin sighed, smoke pouring from her nostrils as she balanced skillfully on the fence before her.

The night air was warm and loose around Salter Street's west end as the gangs gathered for what felt like the first race since the beginning of the summer. Kagome watched the people milling about, a sea of red and black as boyfriends embraced girlfriends, grinned at old friends, smiled at new ones. The ocassional eye was bruised from a fight and the odd scar marring someone's cheek, but she couldn't remember seeing such beautiful people in all her days. The nostalgia made her yearn for a smoke and she gave in to the temptation quickly.

Kagome glanced down at her own arm as she reached into her pants pocket and the sight made her smile; she'd waited a long tim to look down and see white. Rin glanced over at her cousin as she dug out a box of cigarettes and lit one, looking easy and somehow refined as she leaned forward on the fence, watching the crowds before her with a small smile on her face. Rin couldn't help but smile as well, since she knew Kagome's smile was a product of her own doing.

Rin remembered the day she'd received her Wildcat jacket clearly: she hadn't stopped smiling until she fell asleep at 3 in the morning and she had the strangest suspicion that the smile might've lasted through the night. Her cheeks hurt for days afterwards. Kagome wasn't handling it in quite the same manner, of course Rin had only been 11 or 12, but Kagome seemed content to just look down at her new article of clothing with a wistful gaze. Rin had to admit, the jacket looked quite good on her.

The Wildcat leader would always remember the moment she asked Kagome the fatal question. It was a warm evening at the Shark's beach house, a few days after the battle at Naraku's headquarters. The breeze was salty and cool on her sweaty skin, which might've been a direct result of the heat or her nervousness, she wasn't quite sure. Kagome hadn't said anything when her cousin leaned against the banister beside her, though both girls knew that certain words were useless at this point in time.

"I know this has been a long time coming," Rin said quietly, closing her eyes as a wave crashed against the bungalow below and gently showered her face with soothing spray. "I also know that you have every right to turn me down when I ask because...because you don't need us."

Kagome glanced up at this, turning her almost confused, solemn gaze towards her cousin. "Rin-" she began.

Rin held up on pale hand, replying softly, "You don't. We all joined the Wildcats as kids because we had no where else to look and no one to turn to. We were alone, a lot of us scared, even more hurt by the people they loved. We all had a shit time...but that's not why we really went. We needed to hang on to something because sometimes it hurt so much that we didn't even know who we were anymore. That's what the Widcats and the Fangs were to us; a lifeline. I can go home to my big house, sit in my room surrounded by anything money can buy and still not feel as alive there as I do in the warehouse or the racetrack. It's just the way things go." Rin's face was so solemn that Kagome was struck into silence. Rin continued.

"But you don't need it like that. You need this because you're strong enough to lead, Kagome. I mean, I always knew you were smart, that you had a grip on things like the rest of us didn't, but I never knew just how smart and strong you were until you came here. I figured it out withint the first three weeks, saw that you had something special...but I was holding on to something I would never be able to have." Swallowing a painful lump in the back of her throat, she choked out, "Kikyo was the best friend we ever had. She had something about her that made people just want to be with her all the time because she made you feel like you were worth something. I mean, she had her problems too, we all knew that, but feeling wanted was just so gratifying that we didn't even care. I think she joined because she felt like we could help her, in some weird way. Obviously we couldn't. But I couldn't let Kikyo go because it always felt like she was coming back."

Kagome knew exactly what she meant. Even though she knew Kikyo was leaving for Paris in a few days time, if she hadn't already, she felt like the girl might waltz up wreathed in white and laugh at her confusion any moment. That was the way Kikyo was.

As though reading her mind, Rin chuckled tearfully, "I got a letter from her this morning. She's going to Paris, but you probably already knew that. She says her flight is tomorrow and not to see her off because we'd cry and she hates that. It's all so Kikyo. But she's not coming back and you're not her, so its almost irrelevant." At this point, Rin stood tall and turned to face her cousin, brows eyes determined and pretty face hard set. "Kagome, I want you to be a Wildcat. A core member. You've got what it takes and if I wasn't so weak, I would've seen that. Please, I'm begging you, Kagome. We need you. I need you."

The tears which Rin had been trying to hold back this entire time trickled down her grim face, leaving streaks in their wake. Kagome's face was placid, her eyes half hooded and almost kind. Without another word, she took her cousin in her arms and Rin broke down, crying so hard that Kagome had to hold her up. Kagome knew that this was all the answer Rin needed in the end, but she still murmured, "Yes," to be official. As Rin stood there, crying into her shirt, Kagome realized that while all of these people looked so strong, they were probably dying inside. They came to the gangs to escape, but those things they left behind would always be there. It was so sad that Kagome wanted to cry herself, but instead, she set her jaw. She was going to help all of them. Every single one.

Rin blinked away the memory, which warmed her and haunted her at the same time. Kagome was still leaning against the fence, smoking her cigarette languidly as her dark hair provided a glorious contrast on the clean white of her brand new jacket; Rin could almost smell the new leather from where she stood. The contours of the jacket fit Kagome's body perfectly, almost as though it were made for her; in the end, Rin knew it might as well have been, since it was Kikyo's old one. The jacket had arrived with Kikyo's letter that morning and Rin knew it was a sign of formal resignation, one which she never expected to receive. All the same, she'd given the jacket to Ayame, their resident seamstress and allowed her to refurbish the jacket with new paneling and a new core member's star on the breast. In some sort of sick way, Rin didn't plan on telling Kagome that the jacket was Kikyo's and no one but she and Ayame would ever really know. Maybe Rin just needed to know that Kikyo would always, somehow, be with them, even if it was really Kagome standing physically beside her.

"Hey, sexy bitches!"

Kagome and Rin both looked up as Shitora came sauntering over in solid black leather with a cigarette between her lips, looking every bit the grungy Fang core member. Her hair was back to its shimmering silver sheets, as opposed to the grungy white mess it had been the day Kagome helped carry her inside the beach house. Shuddering, Kagome doubted that she would even forget carrying the lifeless bodies of friends with tears in her eyes. It wasn't exactly forgettable.

"What's up with those faces?" Shitora asked as she hopped upon the fence, balancing her elbows on her knees as she looked pointedly down at her friends with inquisitve amber eyes.

Realizing that she must look positively depressed, Rin put on a smile and replied, "Just thinkin' about shit, its nothing."

"Well, stop thinkin' and just do somethin'," Shitora replied wisely, as though this answer were obvious.

Kagome smiled a little and glanced down sheerly out of habit, though her smile faded when her eyes landed on Rin's hand; there were several circular scars on her hand, ones which Kagome hadn't noticed before. Without even thinking, she grabbed Rin's hand and asked quietly, "Rin, what are these?"

Rin locked eyes with her cousin, eventually lowering her gaze because Kagome's brown eyes were so intense; it was like trying to survive on the surface of the sun. "Just burns. From the...fight, you know..."

She trailed off, sweet cherry voice sounding oddly sour as she focused her soft mahogany eyes on the grimy concrete. Kagome dropped her cousin's hand and turned back to the raceway as though she hadn't heard, though she knew what Rin was referring to; though no one had really addressed the manner, it was a well known fact that Sango and Rin had been tortured during capture. The issue was sensetive, which deterred most from bringing it up, but Kagome had other reasons. She knew the girls didn't want to talk about it for the moment, let alone talk about what had occurred or the marks it might've left. When it all came down to it, physical scars would turn to white and fade from view, but their mental counterparts weren't so easy to kill. Sango and Rin weren't the only ones suffering mental and emotional damage from the battle.

Miroku had been clinging to Sango's side for the past week and a half, as though he were afraid to let her even walk on the street. Kagome suspected that this had something to do with feeling responsible for the torture incident, but again she said nothing; these days, there was just nothing to say.

Ayame and Kouga had been staying almost exclusively to themselves, except when Kouga stepped out of his silence to argue with Inuyasha; their rivalry seemed to be at an all time high. Ayame didn't say much on the matter, which was a radical change from before, and let Kouga continue to take out his aggression in a healthy way. Well, it seemed healthy compared to some methods.

Methods such as Ranbou's were what really concerned Kagome. Though Shitora hadn't said much on the matter, her lips were always tight and drawn when Ranbou showed up tired to work in the morning. Everyone knew what Ranbou's half hooded eyes meant, but their thoughts just added to the current amassment of unspoken words. If Ranbou wanted to kill half the town in a sick vengeance against the already dead Naraku, let him; it wasn't their business.

The Jackrabbits had gone home peacefully after their tazer burns wore off, smiling and laughing just as they always had. Kagome knew that they hadn't been as emotionally invested in the battle as the Fangs, but just to see anyone smiling was almost sick. It made Kagome mad just to watch them being happy; she supposed that could be considered her defect.

Bankotsu and Hiten hadn't been working in the Fangs warehouse since the battle. When everyone started back to work, they returned quietly to the Cobra house and had only been seen in limited amounts and never for long. Kagome suspected that it had something to do with the tension, but she could never really be sure; all she remembered was Bankotsu's sad gaze as he left the Sharks beach house the previous week. She couldn't really decipher it, but she supposed it had a deeper meaning behind it than eyes could tell. Hiten hadn't said a word.

Akago and Gan were fairly quiet these days, taking it all in stride and no doubt digesting their worries about the battle in their slow, processive ways. They were rarely seen outside of each other's company, though the feel of the air around them had a definite change. Many of the gang members were having trouble relating to Gan now that she was publically female, which seemed to annoy her more than anything. She'd been tense and curt since the battle, but Kagome knew that had little to do with the tensions surrounding her coming out and more to do with personal anxiety; the reasons which drove her to cross dress hadn't disappeared and it scared her.

Inuyasha was, surprisingly, dealing with the trauma in the most normal way out of his friends. He'd been clinging to those he loved, a little more quiet than normal, and letting out the occassional agressive bark in Kouga's direction. He worked a good deal, though not enough to be considered "an emotional escape" and had started eating regularly three days after his awakening. Kagome was pleased, albeit mildly stunned, and something in her just continued to wait for her boyfriend's inevitable melt down.

None of the ways in which her friends dealt with the aftermath really bothered Kagome except for one. Sesshomaru had undergone a definite change since the fight and the only one who could seem to even get through to him was Rin. He'd been abnormally quiet and when he spoke, none of his usual harshness or command was present; it was almost perpetually apologetic. He wasn't eating well, which was made obvious by his frightening weight loss, and his amber eyes had lost their normal luster, which had been replaced by a dull, pensive glimmer. Though Kagome couldn't really know for sure, she suspected it had something to do with the events of the final showdown; after coming out on top and nearly murdering his friends and family, Sesshomaru was constantly walking on egg shells and it was disconserting.

Shitora's surprisingly quiet voice brought Kagome back from her thoughts. The hanyou girl had moved to stand in between her friends and mirrored their position, arms cross over the fence as she smoked a sad cigarette. "Sesshomaru is starting to look like a skeleton."

Kagome turned her eyes haphazardly towards the starting line, at which Sesshomaru had recently arrived. He looked like the late violinist Paganini, like the undead; his face was gaunt and his limbs almost frail, his already thin waist growing thinner and thinner with each passing moment. Even from a distance, Kagome could see the dead look in his eyes and she shuddered, looking away; the only thing about him which retained even the smallest sense of vitality was his hair, still its usual shimmering silver. Kagome knew that Rin had taken it to washing it for him these days, as they sat in the mansion kitchen on servant off days as she shampooed his head in silence. Though it might seem comical to someone else, Kagome couldn't think of anything sadder at the moment.

"Maybe we should tell someone," Kagome said finally, voice sounding old against the thrum of the race crowd. "A parent? Your dad?"

"He'd never forgive us," Shitora replied, lowering her eyebrows and shaking her head. "Sesshomaru, I mean. Dad wouldn't know where to start; he would want to know what happened and I ain't about to tell him that."

Kagome frowned. "Vitamins, then? If he's not going to eat, we have to keep him alive somehow."

"He'd never take them and besides, if you slipped them into his food he'd leave them on the counter just like a dog leaves them at the bottom of the food bowl." Shitora sighed, running a hand through her own silver hair. "I don't know how to get through to him; I've never not been able to talk to him about something before."

Rin had remained quiet during this conversation and Kagome hesitated a glance in her cousin's direction; Rin's eyes were dutifully trained on Sesshomaru and she seemed unwilling to look away. As though she feared he might shatter into pieces on the ground if she quit watching even for a second.

"Hey," came a voice from Kagome's left.

Inuyasha saddled up beside her, smiling faintly in a depressing sort of facade, and she offered him an encouraging smile in return. "Hey. Ready to win?"

"I'm always ready to win," Inuyasha replied garrulously, his old grin returning for just a moment before it was lost in uncertainty and sadness, just like everything else. He was recovering slowly, as was to be expected, but it pleased Kagome anyway.

In an abnormal display of affection, Kagome reached up her hand and cupped Inuyasha's cheek, murmuring, "Don't be afraid to smile, Inuyasha. It's okay to be happy."

Struck by the comment, Inuyasha looked down even as he covered Kagome's warm hand with his own, which seemed ice cold on her skin. He closed his eyes for a moment, as though savoring her very presence, before answering dully, "I know that. I'm not stupid or scarred or something; its just...hard to smile when no one else is smiling. Like its unfair that I get to smile and none of them are happy enough to. Or something."

Kagome knew it was hard for Inuyasha to confess feelings like this, but she was always amazed at how profound he was whenever he mustered up the courage. A true smile graced her lips as she replied, "I'm smiling."

Inuyasha glanced up and took in the sight of Kagome's beautiful face, smiling gently and almost glittering with sheer joy, despite the fact that everything seemed so rotten these days. It was one of the many things he loved about her; no matter how overcast the sky seemed, she was always sunny...or something poetic like that.

"I know," he said, managing the honest upturning of his lips before he placed a loving kiss on her forehead, almost missing the warmth of her hand on his cheek as she let it fall. "I have to go pull the car up to the line, but I'll see you at the finish. Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Kagome watched Inuyasha go, her heart tugging her towards his retreating back even though she knew he was only going for a few minutes, 10 at the most. Perhaps the battle had gotten to her as well; she was afraid to be alone.

Shitora watched her brother go, smiling slightly at the moment she'd witnessed; she knew Kagome and Inuyasha were close, but in that single moment she'd realized just how deep the connection was. It was good to see Inuyasha so tied with someone; even growing up, she'd never been able to totally get through to him.

"Why so sad, Sukini?"

Shitora gasped at the sudden voice, clapping a hand to her heart as she recognized the scent; she'd been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn't even thought to observe her surroundings. In her mind, this was carlessness.

Ranbou cocked an eyebrow, leaning against the fence beside Shitora. "Easy, Sukini. You okay? You look all worked up."

"You just caught me at a weird time is all," Shitora replied vaguely, calming her breathing and trying to arrest her facial expressions as she retook her spot against the fence as well. "I'm jumpy lately."

"I noticed," Ranbou replied dryly, reaching into his pocket to light a cigarette.

His ice blue eyes were half hooded as they had been all week and Shitora frowned; even with the dark fringe of his hair falling before his eyes, she could see the weariness sketched on his features. It didn't worry her because Shitora Taisho didn't worry, but it certainly...concerned her. Yes. Concerned her.

"Bo-" she started to say, only to lose her courage after the first word.

Ranbou turned his glance towards her, watching as she sighed and returned her gaze to the ground; as he took a deep drag on his new cigarette, he realized dimly that she had obviously been about to address his increase in assassinations as of late. He didn't mind talking about it, but he wanted to hear her ask before he said anything in return. She needed to come to terms with the fact that this was part of his life.

"What," he prompted, giving her his full attention.

Shitora glanced up briefly, meeting his eyes and eventually plucking up enough boldness to say, "You've been really tired this week."

Ranbou's eyes seemed to darken for a moment before he took a long drag on his cigarette and muttered, "You know why that is, Sukini."

The look in his eyes did little to deter Shitora from her modus operandi. "Yeah, maybe, but I don't think that's all of it. Am I right?"

The look in Shitora's eyes almost made Ranbou want to throw up as he stood there, watching his girlfriend be so worried about him. As much as she tried to hide it, her motives were painfully obvious and it hurt him. He was hurt because Shitora was hurting because he was hurting; crap, this whole dating thing was so much more emotionally invested than he planned on. _Then again, _he thought wearily, _she's worth it in the end so I ain't complainin'. _

"We all got our ways of handlin' this, Sukini," he mumbled, dragging his hand down his face and looking almost 20 years older than his own 18. "This is mine, so...I'm alright."

"Yeah, well, at this rate, you'll 'handle' this right into the grave," Shitora snapped in reply, fangs glistening momentarily before she turned her face away; no doubt there was far more emotion there than she preferred to display.

She listened for the sounds of Ranbou working up a reply; when he was thinking about a response, he flicked his lighter, took two drags on whichever cigarette he was smoking and glanced up at the sky. She could hear him going through the motions.

"I'll cut back; a lot of the left over Spiders gotta go, though, I'm warnin' you. I'm busy tryin' to weed em out," Ranbou said finally.

He glanced over at Shitora, who had begun fumbling around for a cigarette as though trying to distract herself from this entire experience. Her fingers were shaking like cold children and she finally gave up, allowing the unused cigarette to drop to the ground as she muttered, "Yeah, whatever."

She turned to go, but a strong arm caught her around the waist, dragging her backwards into a rock hard chest. "Oh, c'mon Sukini, don't be like that."

Shitora covered her face with her hands, rubbing them up and down as though trying to wipe away the worry which hadn't left her eyes since the battle. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she'd been easily tweaked as of late; Ranbou turned her gently around and brushed a piece of snow white hair away from her amber eyes, noticing the defeatedness which lay there.

"Listen to me, alright? I'll cut back when I can. It's not like I wanna be runnin' around stabbin' every unlucky Joe Shit who picked up a gun in Naraku's place, but we don't got much of a choice. Shomo and I've been talkin an-"

"Oh, so you're taking advice from the guy who looks like a walking scarecrow?" Shitora interrupted, cocking one of her eyebrows cutely. "Obviously, neither of you are stable."

Ranbou sighed and his ice blue gaze grew unusually soft; Shitora noticed the change almost right away and her own eyes seemed to soften sheerly out of surprise. After a moment, Ranbou leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Shitora's forehead as she closed her eyes, savoring the softness of a moment unlike any other they'd ever had.

"Stay with me on this, alright?" Ranbou asked quietly, searching Shitora's eyes for validation.

"Yeah," she muttered finally. "I will."

Rin smiled as she watched the interaction from where she stood, realizing that there was a certain magic in the moment. Though Ranbou and Shitora might act as though nothing bothered them, Rin knew that ever single moment their friends were hurting was torture for the couple. Both were tightly tied to others and the tension after the battle physically and emotionally hurt them. As she glanced at Sesshomaru's gaunt form, eerily thin in the street lights, she realized that perhaps he was hurting most of all.

"Simple terms, Dragon. You're in or you're out," the Fang leader spat out, looking almost bored with the situation as he reached down to withdraw a box of cigarettes from his pocket.

Ryuukoytsusei let out a stream of air through his nose and looked up at the smoggy black sky, trying not to notice the obvious point of Sesshomaru's shoulder bone through his jacket; it was sick. "Whatever, Taisho. Just send out Houshi and let's get this over with."

Sesshomaru gave a wan smile. "Not Miroku this time."

"Whoever it is, I'll be waiting for them at the line," Ryuukoytsusei countered, turning away and storming towards his black mustang and ducking moodily inside.

When the crowd began to part, Ryuu took a break from his cigarette and glanced backwards, pausing momentarily as he watched the gleaming red lamborghini diablo purring and roaring its way along the pavement. It was sleek, beautiful and perfect; he could hardly think of another word to describe the thing. Perfect. It was when he saw the silver haired head behind the wheel that he found himself mildly confused; Inuyasha? Ryuu had never seen the car before and could only hesitate to wonder where the Fang's had acquired it, but no matter. It didn't matter in the end where the car had come from, since Ryuu already knew everything he needed to know.

Like, for instance, that he was going to lose.

Sesshomaru wandered towards the fence where Rin was perched and leaned against it at her side, barely sparing her a glance as he continued with his cigarette. Rin was quiet for a moment, enjoying his presence as they stood there in silence, before she finally found words rising up in her mouth.

"Are you okay?"

It was a strange thing to ask, she realized, since he was so obviously the opposite of okay. It was a hard subject to approach, she realized, so she chose the simple way of addressing it indirectly.

Sesshomaru glanced down at Rin, noticing the troubled wrinkles in the crease of her brow, and for a moment he felt guilt prick his heart. He knew the question was much deeper than it appeared and, at the same time, it was incredibly hard to answer. "I'm fine, Rin. And you?"

Rin was quiet at first, wondering if the tears in her eyes were from the heavy scent of gasoline or the desperation knocking at her brain. "I'd be better if you ate something," she whispered, turning away from his sad gaze. It hurt her to see Sesshomaru looking sad, since sadness wasn't the sort of thing he usually succumbed to.

Sighing, Sesshomaru glanced up at the starry night sky before murmuring, "I've tried. I can't keep anything down."

At this, Rin whipped her head around, eyes wide with alarm. "Are you sick?" she asked urgently, knowing full well that demons were only susceptible to five diseases in the known universe, and all of them life threatening.

But Sesshomaru shook his silver head, now a dull grey with weariness. "No, I'm not. Well, I don't know. But I'm almost sure I'm not. I would know if I had anything serious."

"It sounds serious to me," Rin practically breathed; she was too busy mustering up her remaining self control to fight Sesshomaru's bony arms when they wrapped themselves around her. It was like hugging a wraith or a ghost, as though he weren't completely there.

"I'll be fine, Koi, I'll talk to Kaede tomorrow," Sesshomaru offered as reassurance.

But Rin countered, "Tonight, you'll talk to her tonight," before pressing her face against the Fang leader's hollow chest to hide her teary face; she couldn't be seen crying in public.

Sesshomaru sighed once more, resting his chin on the top of Rin's head as he leaned back against the fence. If only it were as simple as a visit to Kaede.

Kagome turned away from the scene of the lovers' awkward embrace, biting her lip as she felt herself consumed by the guilt of witnessing a private moment. She directed her attention back to the raceway where Inuyasha had pulled the Lamborghini up alongisde Ryuukoytsusei's Mustang and she managed a half smile. Maybe no one else could smile during this dour time, but she certainly could. And she'd been tied to a cross and tortured.

Inuyasha drew in a deep breath as he squinted his eyes trying to make out the finish line but finding himself unable to; dog sight was quite lacking. After a moment, he gave up with a snort and lay back against the leather seat, inhaling the sweet scent of recently polished leather. He could do this. With his racing know-how and this machine, he could do this.

"You ready?"

He glanced to his left where Sango was leaning on the window, smiling lopsidedly at him. The shiner around her black eye was still visible, as were the numerous cuts on her face, but she seemed to be pushing through; of course, everyone _seemed _to be pushing through.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he murmured, reaching out to give her hair a brotherly ruffle.

She giggled and swatted his hand away before pushing off the car, making her way boldly towards the center of the line. She presented herself strongly and the crowd began to quiet in anticipation of the impending race as Sango met eyes with both drivers. Inuyasha gave her a wink and Ryuu simply gave her a curt nod, so short that she might've missed it on an off chance. Finally she raised her hands; Inuyasha saw the hands as many things, like his excitement, his fear, his uncertainty all coming to a climax. He tried not to think about doubts as his heart came up in his throat and Sango let her hands drop to her sides. He couldn't even hear the squeal of the brakes as he rocketed off the line.

The sound of the Lamborghini was a purely sexual experience for every mechanic in the area. The sight of it leaping to Inuyasha's bidding was practically the world's most gorgeous fallice and, funnily enough, a gorgeous sight to everyone who beheld it. Inuyasha closed his eyes as the Lamborghini soared beneath him, gliding across the concrete as though it were riding on a cloud; there was absolutely no friction.

Everyone's eyes were trained on the Lamborghini as it passed the Mustang with little or no trouble, traveling down the road with such skill and speed that the win was secured. Ryuukoytsusei eventually just ignored the race and watched the car in front of him, silently marveling at its mechanics; it was like the thing was built from silk.

The race would be remembered as less of a race and more of a debut since there wasn't much competition from the Mustang. Inuyasha's car finished the race in 9.4 seconds, a Tokyo Gang record and perhaps comparable to world records. As it came flying across the finish line, the onlookers broke out into hysterical cheering and Kagome screamed happily, hugging Shitora, who happened to be nearest. Shitora gave Ranbou a pathetic "help me" look, but the wolf demon just smiled; he knew Shitora wasn't used to girl bonding, but he supposed Kagome needed something to hold on to just then. It seemed like everyone else was anchoring themselves on her, so she needed to anchor herself to something as well. Or they would all float away.

When Inuyasha pulled up to the line, his car was bombarded by wild gang members clapping him on the back and shouting his name in appreciation. The boy only had eyes for Kagome as he produced his first real grin in days and he ran towards his girlfriend, watching as she hugged his sister voraciously.

"Kagome!"

She turned just quick enough to find both herself and Shitora swept up in Inuyasha's open arms. Shitora laughed and protested, "Get off me, ya crazy mutt!"

As she squirmed her way out of the embrace, Inuyasha turned his full attention on Kagome, who was smiling adoringly at him. "I'm so proud of you Inuyasha, it was perfect!"

But before Inuyasha could think of something witty and wonderful to say, his feelings fell out through his mouth. "I love you." The words hit the air and Kagome took it all in stride, digesting them and letting them sit on her heart like a blanket; the feeling was almost warming.

"I love you too," she replied, brown eyes dancing with amber.

She'd gone through a lot this summer, she realized. Fights, laughs, contests, strange situations, but she'd learned so much about herself and the world around her. Tokyo wasn't so much different from Kyoto, she realized. Perhaps every city was the same in the end; the only thing that mattered about cities and time were the people you went through it all with. As Kagome looked around the pavement at the assorted faces of family and friends, she couldn't help but feel as though life could never be more beautiful. She had everything she needed right here and she'd spent so much of her life looking for it. It all seemed so silly now.

Before Kagome could think any further on the matters of her life, Inuyasha stole her mouth in a kiss and she smiled into his lips, knowing that the feeling she had right then would never truly leave.

As Sesshomaru watched his brother kissing Kagome beneath the streetlights, surrounded by screaming gang members and more smiles than he'd seen since June, he became vaguely aware of Kouga's presence beside him. Kouga's face was bruised on the cheek and his chest was weak, but he was pulling through just like everyone else. The friends had yet to talk about that night when Sesshomaru's demon form had turned on his best friend, but Kouga didn't know if they ever would. In the end, it mattered little to him.

"It's like the end of an era," he murmured, chuckling slightly.

Sesshomaru nodded, lighting his sixth cigarette routinely. "I can't argue. We made it past this obstacle, but there will always be others."

Kouga grinned. "True. But we're still the best."

"And we've still got our pride," Sesshomaru added serenely.

Kouga's ice blue eyes followed Sesshomaru's line of sight where their friends had wrapped a protesting Inuyasha in a monstrous group hug, much to the enjoyment of the surrounding crowd. Kouga's smile was one of acceptance and love for all things.

"And that's what it's all about, isn't it?'

Sesshomaru's head was erect at a nearly impossible angle, like that of the Roman kings.

"Right. That's what it's all about."

!!!!THE END!!!!

**I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER! But then again I'm so excited for the sequel(s) that I'm almost glad that milestone is passed. Oh, it's exciting! Now I just have to edit and what not to make it eligble for things; until then, I ask that no one nominate LDTL for stuff cause we all know there are some serious typos (kouga hugged kouga, haha, a little cuddle-masturbation?)**

**Thanks to all the reviewers who made this possible, I think of you all like my closest friends. We've been through a lot, ne? And now we get to go through even more! The next chapter will be an informational session about the next story. I left a few open ends in this one to satisfy the sequel.**

**Once again, I love you all!**

**KOLU**


	35. SEQUEL NOTES

Okay, now for a bit of information concerning the sequel and how this will all fit together/play in.

I'm going to build off of what Sango mentioned in chapter 8 (I think 8...?) about every kind of love having a dance. Each chapter is going to be named after and themed after a certain kind of dance; I thought an interwoven theme would be cool.

There will be three important new characters (I know, I know, you guys probably hate it when I do this, but its all going to be integral, I promise.) Each of them has a purpose and I'm sure you will grow to love all of them, just like your next Shitora or Ranbou.

There are a few things that I would like to do that you guys can help me with:

1) **I would like to get an LJ group going and need help**. This requires me getting an LJ, which can most certainly be done. I think most everyone I know has a livejournal, but how many of you do? Do we want to talk about this? I need people to help me manage the LJ group, since I am not exactly tech savvy. I can hold my own, but I'm sometimes a little downs when it comes to this kind of stuff.

2) **I need a beta council, in case you couldn't tell. **Those of you who want to help me beta, you're a god and I need you. Betas are blessings and I'm in need of a blessing quite soon. Together, we will get this thing to the IYGuild! I swear it!

3) **I need profiles. **I asked a few of you guys to send me profiles just to see what kind of responses I would get and I love you all because you helped me fine tune this. I will be taking the first 10 profiles I receive and you all will be Kagome's faithful followers. This is the format I need profiles to be in:

Name (first and last)

Demon/Human?:

If demon, what kind:

Height:

Build:

Hair Color:

Eye color:

Demeanor:

Feelings towards Kikyo:

Feelings towards Kagome:

Any crushes? C'mon, this would make it interesting:

Just so you know, the way this is going is like such: each core member of the gangs has a certain portion of the gang set aside to follow them. Rin has her portion, Sango hers and so on, same with the Fangs and all the other gangs. When Kagome takes over Kikyo's position, she inherits her portion of the Wildcats and now has to deal with them since the school year has started. That's where ya'll come in. If you decide that your character dislikes Kagome, then she will be cohorts with Enju, the ultimate Kagome hater. (Remember Enju? Late in the tv series, wolf demon girl, very brief appearance? That Enju.)

That's kind of how all of this is breaking down and I would dearly love input. My email is and you can reach me there. The first people to email me will get first choices!

I LOVE YOU ALL! YOU'RE MY LIFE!

KOLU


	36. ANNOUNCEMENT!

**ATTENTION: THE SEQUEL IS UP.**

**Go to my author page and look for Laying Down the Law: Abuna i Dansu. This means "the dangerous dance."**

**IT'S FINALLY STARTING! EXCITEMENT! Thank you to everyone for your profiles and reviews; I hope you'll like what I've done with them. It's only the prologue right now, but the chapters are soon to come. Love ya'll!**

**KOLU**


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